


How Do You Take Your Tea?

by barefootedmuse



Series: Tea and Coffee [1]
Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: F/M, Frohana, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-01
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-20 17:25:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 30,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3658854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barefootedmuse/pseuds/barefootedmuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Disney makes happily-ever-afters look easy. Sure, Elsa's ended the winter- but has anyone thought about what a mess there is still to clear up? Leading straight on from The Great Thaw, a little fic dealing with the unbelievable amount of awkward practicalities that weren't glamorous enough to make it to the big screen. Very mild language and buckets of dorky sexual tension.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Handy Boat

**Author's Note:**

> Lots of fluff, family, and canon references.  
>  _Italicised speech_ is usually Kristoff as Sven- though it's used at other points for emphasis.  
>  My first fic in a long time. Be gentle with me.

Over the shoulder of her sister's embrace, Anna caught Kristoff's eye and smiled. With the cheers of Arendelle's people in the summer air, the splutterings and splashings of Hans flailing in the waters of the fjord, and an arm slung across Sven's back, Kristoff found it easy to smile back.

The moment passed, though, and they both looked away, suddenly awkward and very aware of the fact that Kristoff had just stumbled across a frozen wasteland through a magical snowstorm to deliver a true love's kiss to a girl he'd met three days ago.

A kiss which, it turned out, wasn't needed anyway.

Complete train-wreck of a romantic rescue, really.

Kristoff went bright red, and was very glad when Elsa broke out of the hug and grinned at her sister.

" Anna. I don't know where to start." Her eyes searched every inch of her sister's face. "I hadn't really thought past the ice palace on the mountain."

Anna laughed, easily. "Oh God, I know. This is crazy. Crazy awkward. Not that we're awkward, just that the situation – um. Elsa, this is Kristoff. And that's Sven."

She waved a hand to the ice harvester and his companion. Introductions seemed a fair place to start.

Sven wagged his little tail and Kristoff fumbled into a funny sort of bow. Anna got the feeling he'd never done it before.

Elsa cocked her eyebrow slightly, peering at the man before her. "I know you from somewhere."

"Your ice palace. I was at your ice palace with An – Princess Anna. Your majesty."

Elsa's expression cleared as Anna bounded over to Kristoff and took his arm. "Ah Kristoff, you can still call me Anna. Kristoff is…" she briefly glanced up to him with smiling eyes. "Kristoff is an ice harvester, Elsa, but he lives with the Rock Trolls, and he helped me find you, Elsa –"

"Well I don't live with them, exactly, um. It's sort of, well. Sort of."

Elsa inclined her head slightly. "Well, I owe you my thanks, Kristoff. It's good to know someone was looking after my sister when I should have been." With that, Elsa swept her head around and scanned the shoreline – sure enough, a hesitant but intrepid party of a few guards had pushed out in a smaller boat to retrieve the queen and her motley entourage. Elsa raised a hand to them, then looked back over her shoulder at Anna, guiltily. "We've got some explaining to do."

Anna laughed, delighted. "It'll be fine, I'm sure. They're coming over to get you, and that's a start! And I don't see any witch-hunters. And we're on a _boat_. I mean, what are the chances?"

Anna was babbling, but it was good to have something fill the air. She'd hit on something there, with the witch-hunters- were people just going to accept Elsa as queen again, just like that? God knows what Hans had been saying in the absence of both royal sisters.

Kristoff very briefly caught the queen's eye and saw his thoughts reflected in the second before he looked away in respect. He shifted uncomfortably. He was very aware that this was the _queen_ before him, and the girl currently hanging on his arm – the girl he'd been running around with for the past few and recently delivered to the castle half-frozen and bundled into his arms like a damsel in distress – was the _princess_. Things like that didn't seem very important with the impending doom of Aredelle and life-and-death decisions at hand – but now, in the warm summer sun of a very ordinary-looking day, they became enormous.

After a moment's hesitation, Elsa held out her hand to Anna. Anna unconsciously squeezed his arm before almost skipping over to take her sister's hand.

Kristoff uncomfortably tugged at his furs and jumper. He was boiling.

Sven nudged his elbow.

"I didn't even think about the boat to be honest. All I could think was to get rid of the ice…" Elsa sighed. "My foresight isn't the best this week, is it?"

"Lucky for us it was here though, or we'd be swimming about with Hans," Anna glanced almost imperceptibly over to the side of the boat where the indignant splutterings of the 13th son of the Southern Isles could still be heard. "That's something I don't mind giving a miss."

"Anna, what –" But Elsa glanced at the present company and just smiled, rubbing her sister's arm. "We'll talk about it later. I think you need to do a lot of filling-in."

"Oh, we could tell you the _whole story_!" Olaf had chipped in, his personal flurry dancing up and down with his excited bounce. "How I found these lovebirds in the frozen _forest_ , how I thought they were both called _Sven_ …"

As the little guard-bearing boat sailed closer, Olaf and Anna happily chattered away, the earlier awkwardness on the boat melting like the enchanted ice. Kristoff pulled off his gloves and stuffed them into the sash around his waist. He couldn't help stealing glances at Anna as she spoke so animatedly.

"Your majesty?" The call came from below. "You majesty, if I may, I will send up some guards to bring the boat to shore. May they approach?"

Elsa dashed to the side of the boat and looked over, wide-eyed, hands on the railing. "Of course. Of course you may – please, do not be afraid."

Anna followed her over and peered down to the little boat.

A handful of guards scurried up the rigging, each bowing and murmuring their respect to the queen when they hopped over onto the deck before hurrying to bring the boat closer to the shore. It looked really quite ridiculous – Anna caught Kristoff's eye and giggled.

Ten minutes and a great deal of chat from Olaf and Anna later, the great ship was tethered to the dock.

Kristoff had been mostly silent for the short journey to shore, but now, as the gangplank bridged the watery gap with a bang, he realised he had to say something.

"Anna."

She was hanging off Elsa's arm, babbling away, but paused and turned as Kristoff spoke. She looked surprised at his expression.

"Kristoff! Are you ok?"

"Um…" He drew her aside for a moment. Elsa took the hint and crouched down to speak to Olaf. "Should I – what should I…?"

She looked puzzled.

"Should I – stick around for a bit, or…?"

She blinked. Then realised. "Oh! Of course. Of course! I mean, do you…" The sudden realisation that they knew very little practical information about each other – despite spending the past few days pretty much solidly in each other's company – was vast. "Do you… live close by?"

Kristoff rubbed the back of his neck. "Not exactly. Me and Sven sort of stay wherever, as and when really. My sleeping stuff, it's… it was in my sled."

"Oh!" Anna's eyes went very wide. "Oh, God, I'm sorry. We have a castle. There are a lot of rooms you could stay in. If you know, you want to hang around. Tag along." She was trying, and failing, to be very nonchalant. It was something familiar to Kristoff, and he suddenly felt a great relief. He laughed.

"Thanks, but I think I'll just get a room at an inn. The Cross and Courtier is all right."

His stomach gave a huge rumble.

"Their food isn't bad either."

They both laughed. Anna's eyes creased up at the corners when she laughed. That was nice. He liked that.

"Well, the offer's open," she smiled, glancing over her shoulder at Elsa. "Don't be a stranger, ok? Don't forget I still owe you a sled!"

Kristoff laughed. "Don't worry. We won't be going anywhere without that."

With another warm smile – Anna couldn't stop smiling, it was ridiculous, her cheeks ached with all the joy – she trotted back over to Elsa. Together, they walked away down the gangplank – Elsa sweeping , Anna almost skipping, and Olaf waddling behind them.

Anna was already babbling away to her sister, but threw a glance and a smile over her shoulder at the ice harvester. It was clearly meant to communicate something, but didn't.

Kristoff exhaled massively, and watched the sisters head towards the castle, flanked by wary guards.

_"She said rooms at the castle!"_

"Yeah, I know Sven. But I don't think we're ready for that kind of luxury."

_"She asked you to stay!"_

Kristoff grinned. "Yeah. I noticed that too." He patted Sven on the back. "Lunch?"

\--

Elsa cast a troubled eye over the guards accompanying them up to the castle. They seemed a little to on edge; a little too cautious.

Not that she blamed them.

Anna noticed her expression.

"They're just being cautious, Elsa. They don't know what's been going on." She squeezed her sister's arm. "We'll explain it all in good time. Meantime," she stifled a yawn. "Meantime, I want some chocolate and a nap. You must be exhausted too!"

Elsa hadn't really given any thought to it – what with freezing her sister's heart, having an epic ice fight with two Weselton guards, being imprisoned and then thinking her sister was dead, seeing that she was not dead, then seeing her _actually_ dead and then seeing her finally, mercifully, beautifully, genuinely alive – but now that Anna's warm hand rested in the crook of her arm and Arendelle did not sleep under eternal ice, she realised that she essentially hadn't slept properly in… well, to be dramatic, since she was eight years old.

And Elsa did have a flair for the dramatic.

She let out a huge yawn.

"Yeah. I could use some sleep."

They had reached The Gates. They were open.

They had barely stepped a foot inside when Kai and Gerda swept both girls into their arms.

"Princess Anna, you had us worried sick! After we left you with Prince Hans, we thought all was well, but then the ice, it froze the doors shut, so there was no way to check, and just now, we heard you had _died_ –"

"Queen Elsa, are you all right? The snow is gone, but you look exhausted –"

"Let us get you some hot food –"

Kai turned to the guards, who seemed somewhat taken aback at the two servant's complete lack of fear.

"That will be all. We shall accompany their majesties from here."

The Gates did not shut, but the procession of guards stopped. As Gerda put her arm about Anna's shoulders, she finally caught sight of the small snow cloud following the two girls.

"Hi! I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!"

Gerda shrieked in surprise.

"Oh – it's all right, Gerda, this is Olaf, he's a friend –"

Gerda was absolutely speechless with shock, but Kai bowed to the little snowman. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Master Olaf."

Always a gentleman, Kai.

Gerda swallowed and followed his example, stifling her surprise and curtsying low.

"Olaf will be accompanying us into the castle." Elsa was on the brink of apologising, but Kai stopped her in her tracks.

"Of course, your majesty. Will any rooms need to be prepared for our guest?"

Olaf looked perfectly bemused. He looked to Elsa for guidance.

Unhelpfully, Anna giggled.

Olaf grinned toothlessly up at Kai. "I'm ok. But thanks!"

Kai and Gerda showed them to the closest parlour before excusing themselves – Gerda to fetch some chocolate for Anna, and Kai to ensure both royal bedrooms were prepared.

As soon as the door shut behind them, Elsa collapsed onto the sofa. She let out a great breath and stretched, eyes closed. Olaf bounded over to the window, and pushed it open with tiny arms. A warm breeze drifted in and he sighed happily.

Anna smiled. The room was quiet – there was nothing but the soft sounds of the town drifting in through the window – and it was wonderful. And very, very peaceful. Anna suddenly remembered that she had barely slept since her sister's coronation.

Her mouth formed the beginning of Elsa's name to tell her such, but a sudden, delicate snore stopped her. Anna turned to see her sister flat out on the sofa, fast asleep. She walked over, gently lifted her sister's head onto her lap and leaned back her head, eyes closed.

When Gerda returned some five minutes later, she left a plate of chocolates on the coffee table before the two sleeping sisters.


	2. Take a Bath

Kristoff slept for what felt like about a week. When he woke up, he had absolutely no idea what time it was, but the light that filtered through the thin curtains of The Cross and Courtier's cheapest room betrayed the fact that it was daytime.

He went to reach for his bag before remembering it was in his sled. Like all his other belongings.

He groaned.

Grumbling, he pulled his old jumper – which by now must have been stiff with in sweat and reindeer hair, as well as various bits of moss and mud from the Trolls' matchmaking efforts – over his head. He ran a hand through his hair and stumbled downstairs.

"Hey." The innkeeper was up, polishing glasses. "Strange question. You don't happen to know what day it is, do you?"

The innkeeper fixed him with a stern look. "Didn't see you at the bar last night. Rough night, lad?"

Kristoff rubbed his face. "You could say that. I was out on the fjord. Was it yesterday I checked in?"

"Aye. Yesterday afternoon. After the Great Thaw." The innkeeper nodded sagely.

"Right. So the time now is…?"

"'Round noon. You slept a solid twenty-four hours, boy."

Kristoff sighed. "I feel better for it. How much for lunch?"

"Three-forty."

Kristoff rummaged around for coins in the pocket of his trousers. Thankfully, his money had not been on the sled – it lived in a pouch on Sven's harness.

"Oh, and you don't –" He cleared his throat as the words of his adopted family rang in his ears – "You don't have a bath I could use, do you?"

"It'll be an extra two."

"Deal."

Kristoff handed over some coins and flumped into the chair at a nearby table.

He'd go see Anna today. He had to find out about this sled, find out how long it would take to get it, and then… well, he supposed he'd head back into the mountains again. Now it was summer again, people would need ice.

He wasn't sure why, but he felt strange about going back into the mountains so soon. Sure, Sven was all the company he needed, but it had been nice to… well, to have someone to talk to for a while. Someone that wasn't himself – or even himself giving Sven a voice.

'Don't be a stranger' – what did that mean? Sure, he could go to castle today because it was business – important sled business – but an ice harvester could hardly pay social calls to the princess of Arendelle. Especially an ice harvester who currently didn't even have a set of clean clothes to his name.

A plate of lunch was plonked down before him.

Maybe she hadn't meant it, Kristoff brooded, shovelling a whole pastry into his mouth. Maybe she was just being polite. Princesses were practically trained in the art of being polite, right?

But he couldn't shake the image of her, almost frozen, looking out to him across the fjord. White hair, blue fingertips, the dance of frost which ordinarily would be so beautiful marring her cheeks – no, he didn't think he would ever be able to forget that image. Nor the look in her eyes just before she turned to throw herself between her sister and Hans' sword. A look of longing.

_Stop it. You are an ice deliverer. She is a princess. It was a very stressful situation, out in the storm. She probably wasn't even looking for you out on the fjord. Why would she be?_

Kristoff impaled a sausage on his fork with more force than was probably necessary.

What would be nice, he thought, would be to sit down and talk about it. But he wasn't very good at talking.

Not much practice, he supposed.

No. He would go see her today, ask about this new sled, congratulate her on the accuracy of her right hook yesterday, and express his sincere hope that she'd broken Hans' nose. And with that, he would be gone. Maybe, if he was in town in the future, he'd call in and let her know how the sled was performing.

_Let her know how the sled was performing…_

With a groan, Kristoff buried his head in his hands. He really hadn't learnt a thing from the Trolls.

The bath was in the back room. The innkeeper said he'd have the servant girl fill it with warm water for him. In the meantime, Kristoff went to see Sven.

_"It's about time!"_

"Oh, good morning to you too, buddy. I slept like a baby. You?"

_"This isn't even fresh hay."_

"Well, that's not my fault. I brought you some lunch, though."

He handed Sven a carrot.

"You can have the whole thing. I just ate."

To emphasise his point, Kristoff let out a hearty belch.

"Today, buddy, I think we'll take a trip up to the castle. We need to see about this sled."

_"They'd have fresh hay at the castle!"_

Kristoff gave him a look. "You are never satisfied, are you?"

Sven brayed happily.

"Aw, you too, buddy. Right," He gave Sven a good scratch behind the ears. "I need to go have a bath. And before you start," he raised his eyebrows at the reindeer. "It's not because we are going to see An- Princess Anna. It's because mum has a point. I stink."

Kristoff had the servant girl – Hilda – put some of the water in a bucket, so he could soak his clothes. The minute they hit the water, it turned brown.

Kristoff wrinkled his nose.

"Oh. Ew."

He eased himself into the bath, letting the hot water soothe all the aches and pains and from the last few days – most of them, honestly, caused by Anna. There was a bruise just above his left hip where the bag of tools she'd thrown at him outside Oaken's Trading Post had landed; tight muscles on the back of his legs from where she'd slammed into him as they'd slid down the hill escaping from that giant snowman; the still-throbbing lump on the top of his head where he'd hit the rock face shortly after; rope burn on his arm from that impromptu wedding ceremony his family had tried to stage for them; multiple scratches and bruises on his knees and hands from slipping repeatedly on the icy fjord when running towards her –

 _Circular thoughts today,_ he grumbled. _Stop it._

Once he thought he must smell at least reasonably clean, Kristoff climbed out of the bath, water dripping everywhere. He shook his head like a dog before fishing his clothes out of the bucket and wringing them out. He rinsed off the residual crap in his rather scummy bath water before flapping them around a bit and hanging them outside the window to dry.

He hoped he was doing this right. Normally, his mum washed his clothes for him – with any luck, there'd be a neat pile of clean shirts somewhere in the Rock Troll clearing – but for today, this would be all right. Hopefully.

\--

Anna woke up with a start. She had been dreaming – Hans, Hans had been there, and his sword had passed straight through her to hit Elsa, like she was nothing but air –

Anna went to sit forward and rub her eyes, try to push the images out, but as she did so, the warm weight on her leg shifted. She'd completely forgotten Elsa was asleep beside her.

Elsa wasn't awake, but as her head moved, blood flooded back into Anna's leg with a surge of pins and needles.

"Ahhhhh," she eased her sister's head onto the sofa, before rubbing sleep from her eyes with one hand. She tried to shake some feeling back into the leg with the other. "Arghhh."

"Anna!"

It was Olaf.

He leapt from his perch by the window – had he not moved? – and came waddling over. "How are you? You _slept_ and _slept_ but I didn't want to wake you up."

"Thanks Olaf. I needed the sleep." She yawned. "I'm going to find some breakfast – well, lunch," she corrected, glancing at the clock on the mantelpiece. "Could you stay here and keep an eye on Elsa? I don't want her waking up on her own."

"Of course!" Olaf chirped. He jumped up onto the sofa beside the sleeping queen. "I'll wait right here."

Anna smiled. "Thanks Olaf. I'll be back soon. Me and Elsa have a lot of talking to do." Uncertain, she looked down at her sister. Where would they start? How would they begin to make up thirteen years of lost time in a single conversation?

Olaf seemed to read her mind. "You have all the time in the world now," he said. "You don't have to rush a thing."

He was strangely wise at times, this little snowman. Maybe that was the Elsa in him, in the magic that gave him life, Anna thought. Elsa always came across as wise – well, at least to her.

Wiping some sleep-dribble from her cheek, Anna made her way down to the kitchens. This was no time for a sit-down meal. She was _ravenous._

She was just disentangling strands of her hair and trying to comb it into some kind of order with her fingers when she entered the kitchen.

"Good morning Bethan! What food do you have?"

The scullery maid looked up in surprise. "Good afternoon to you, m'lady, I didn't expect to see you! You gave me a bit of a turn."

"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to make you jump. I am starving though. I thought you would have heard my stomach coming."

Anna had lived in the castle for almost nineteen years now, and in those nineteen years the kitchen had become well used – and well equipped – to deal with Anna's erratic and insatiable appetite. There was always a selection of cakes, bread, fruit, and every possible kind of pickled food to hand so when the princess wandered in, foraging – as she often did at all and every hour of the day – there was always something to eat. The kitchen staff often joked that the only way to Anna's heart was through her stomach – though now, after the rumours about Prince Hans' conduct, the staff didn't joke about Anna's heart at all.

"I'll make you a sandwich, m'lady."

Anna nodded, rummaged in the cupboards and found a muffin to function as a starter. She took a huge bite and through a mouthful of cake, she asked, "Have fings bin ok downere Befan? Widda ice?"

Another thing the kitchen staff had become accustomed to was Anna's refusal to forfeit the chance of a good conversation under any circumstances.

"Not too bad, m'lady. With the cold, we'd been makin' a lot of hot grog for the townsfolk. Shan't imagine they'll need it now though, what with Queen Elsa havin' melted all the ice for us all."

Anna swallowed her cakey mouthful. "What have you heard about the ice? And the Thawing?" Again, she tried her hardest to be nonchalant.

"Jus' the same as everyone else, ma'am. That though Queen Elsa froze the land, she also gave it back again. I never did think she froze in on purpose in the first place though, if I may be so bold, m'lady."

Anna's heart soared at this. Of course, the castle's servants would never speak ill of Elsa, but nor were they under any obligation to labour the point. Anna took a thoughtful bite of her muffin. She was very easy with the servants, as they had been her sole companions for a long time. They knew her, and had seen her grow from girl to woman – as such, they had always been much more than just servants. Bethan would not say that about Elsa if she did not truly feel it – of that, Anna was sure.

She took another big bite of cake.

"Issat really wot people arsayin?"

"By my best crockery, my lady, 'tis."

She handed Anna a ham sandwich.

"Thanks, Bethan." The maid bobbed into a curtsy, and continued to busy herself with the washing up.

Anna wandered back up through the empty halls to the parlour where she'd left Elsa. After all the madness of the past few days, it was so quiet in the castle again. If she listened really, really hard, she could almost hear the musical echoes of the Coronation Ball.

She'd talk to Elsa today. And have a bath to wash off the sweat and grime of the trek up the North Mountain. They had so much to talk about – secrets, adventures, plans…

She pushed open the door to the parlour. Both Elsa and Olaf had gone.

She spun around.

"Elsa? Elsa!"

Anna dashed back down the halls, shouting at the top of her voice.

"Elsaaaa!"

She didn't see Gerda until she collided with her and barely kept her balance, arms windmilling wildly.

"My lady?"

"Hey Anna! I'm helping!"

"Olaf! Where's Elsa? Gerda, she's gone, I don't know where she is –"

"Shh, Anna, it's all right. She's just upstairs. She wanted to take a bath, and asked I tell you not to wait around for her if you have business to attend to."

Anna's eye was caught by the little snowman waving from under his personal flurry. "Yeah, she's fine, Anna. I told her she should wait for you to get back, but she said you're usually quite a long time in the kitchen –"

The tightness around Anna's heart loosened. "Oh thank goodness, I thought- well, I don't know, I thought maybe she'd gone AWOL again, and, yeesh. We've only just got back."

Gerda smiled. "Not to worry, my lady. Shall we take you to your chambers? I hear you've eaten, but a fresh change of clothes and a bath might not be such a bad idea for yourself, too."

"That would be nice, actually. So long as you're sure Elsa is –?"

Gerda took Anna's arm. "She's fine, my lady."

Anna nodded and started to walk along with Gerda when she was struck by a sudden idea. She turned back around to the little snowman.

"Olaf, could you find Kristoff and Sven for me? I want to make sure they're ok. And…" Anna thought for a second. "Can you invite them to dinner? Well, Kristoff at least. I'm not sure Gerda and Kai would be too happy if a reindeer came to dinner. But I'd like Elsa to meet them properly." She smiled.

"Ok!" With his characteristic laugh, Olaf turned and waddled and leapt and bounced away down the corridor.


	3. I Owe You Some Clothes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 18/04 - Fixed the error with Anna's knowledge of the layout of the town. I've added in a few tweaks exploring how/if/why she would know a thing about shopping in Arendelle.

Kristoff – now fully dressed in relatively clean, if still slightly damp clothes – made his way back to the stable.

"Right, Sven. Let's head up to the castle."

Sven nodded his great head and lumbered forward. Together, they made their way along the cobbled streets towards Arendelle's centre.

Kristoff's still-filthy fur jerkin and gloves were slung over Sven's back. The day was warm and the sky was blue and it felt like there was more magic in the air now than there had been in the last few frost-laced days.

Gossip swirled about him.

"I can't understand it. Prince Hans seemed such a good man – so generous, with Arendelle's best interests at heart…"

"– the Queen will explain everything?"

"The Gates are still open, I suppose…"

"– swam to the shore and was seized by the guards –"

Kristoff frowned at the mention of Hans' name. Sure, he'd never really met the guy, and all he had to go on was the all-too detailed description Anna had given him as they hiked up towards the North Mountain – but it must have been Hans swinging his executioner's sword down to Elsa as she knelt on the fjord, and it must have been Hans that had failed to thaw Anna's heart before she had stumbled across the ice to him, and it must have been Hans that had let them down despite how they'd ran all the way back to the castle to deliver Anna into his arms –

Kristoff was thoroughly confused about the whole thing. The guy on the boat certainly fitted the description Anna had given him. Sure, it was stupid to marry a man you just met – but how could anyone's judgement be _that_ bad? How could Anna totally miss the fact that the man was a _murderous sociopath?_ Or had Kristoff totally misread the situation?

If he was being honest, he hadn't really been thinking straight when he'd marched towards the guy on the boat yesterday. He'd not given a second thought to the fact that the true love's kiss clearly hadn't worked, or hadn't taken place at all – in his head, he'd just been planning to knock the guy's lights out because he was a jerk who'd tried to kill the queen and stopped him from saving Anna. Had that even been Hans on the boat?

Maybe Hans was a perfectly decent bloke who had been watching in horror from the castle as the guy on frozen fjord swung his sword towards the queen's neck.

Kristoff felt a gloom settle in the pit of his stomach like lead, but consoled himself with the fact that at least the kiss hadn't worked. _Doesn't sound like true love._

_"Kristoffnsven!"_

In surprise, reindeer and man turned. Sven bounded towards the little snowman- whom most people were giving a wide berth – tail wagging and nose twitching at the smell of carrot. His tongue lolled out as he brayed a hello.

"Olaf. What are you doing here?" Kristoff cast a faintly annoyed look at the townsfolk staring at Olaf in horror, and crouched down to the little snowman's level. "Is everything ok?"

"Everything's great! Anna sent me to find you and bring you back to the castle!" His twig arms waved about happily. "She's having a bath. But she's invited you to dinner."

Kristoff went bright red at the thought of Anna having a bath, but was luckily distracted from this particular train of thought by Sven lunging forward to take a bite at Olaf's nose. Olaf chuckled.

"Ohhh, I like you _too_. But you're not invited to dinner, Sven. Reindeers can't sit at tables."

Kristoff cleared his throat. "Olaf, it's good you found us– we were just about to head up to the castle anyway. I need to talk to Anna. About my new sled."

Olaf looked sceptical.

"My old one, it – Anna drove it off a cliff. With all my stuff in it."

Olaf gave Kristoff a maddening look of disbelief and amusement. "I think you'll have to talk about more than just sleds. You'll have to meet Elsa properly! And we have our whole story to tell!"

Kristoff's eyes grew momentarily very wide. "Um, Olaf? I'm not sure if Elsa will want to meet me –"

"Oh, sure she will! Now come on! Anna's orders!" Olaf turned and bounded away towards the castle, Sven following excitedly in his wake.

\--

Anna fiddled with the end of her still bath-damp plaits as she walked up to Elsa's bedroom door. Taking a deep breath, she knocked.

"Elsa?"

No answer.

Trying to push down the rising disappointment, she knocked again.

"Elsa?"

"Oh – hang on!"

Relief. The door swung open and her sister stood there, wearing a dress slightly more conservative in colour and style than the spangled ice-frock of the previous day, but with her hair still long and loose like Anna had never seen her wear it in the past. She smiled when she saw who it was.

"Anna. Hi."

"Hi."

"Do you…" Elsa glanced behind her. "Come in."

Very, very tentatively, Anna crossed the threshold of her sister's room. She didn't think she'd ever been in here before.

It was a big room – beautiful, with a wide bay window and blue wallpaper trimmed with a pattern of deep purple crocuses. A portrait of their parents hung on the wall opposite the bed. Anna saw, with a twinge of sadness, that ice was creeping up the glass of the window.

She put a hand on Elsa's arm.

Elsa jumped. Physical contact was still a very new and strange thing.

But Anna didn't pull away, and the ice on the glass began to retreat.

Anna smiled.

"Elsa. I think we should talk."

The queen sighed. "Yes. Yes we should. But…" She drifted over to the window. "I think, before we do that, I… I have an apology to make to the people of Arendelle."

Anna considered. "Sure, but- could that wait, or? I mean, of course, they're your people, and I totally get that, and-" Anna was babbling. In her head, Elsa had opened the door first time, pulled Anna into a hug and they'd sat on the bed eating ice cream and talking like she'd always dreamed they would. And it hurt, just a little, that Elsa still had to be a queen first and a sister second. "Of course. Of course, that makes total sense." She tried to smile.

"But I also have an apology to make to my sister."

Elsa turned.

"Not just for the past few days, but for the past thirteen years. And also for now. Because I do have to explain to Arendelle. As soon as I can." Elsa looked down. "I'm sorry Anna."

"Don't be silly, we –"

"It's just I know you'll be patient," Elsa looked at her sister with huge apologetic eyes, willing her to understand. "And I don't know how much longer Arendelle will be."

Anna understood. "Elsa, you do what you need to. I'll be right here." And Anna grinned, gesturing to herself and holding out the sides of her skirt. "I'm not going anywhere at all."

"Thank you, Anna." Elsa smiled and held a hand out to her sister. Together, they looked out the window. "Arendelle really is beautiful, isn't it?"

"It's even more beautiful with you here," Anna jumped in. "And without all the ice. Though it was still beautiful with the ice, of course."

Elsa smirked. "Of course. I –" But something outside the window caught her eye, and she frowned. "Is that Olaf? With… the ice harvester? And a reindeer?"

"Kristoff and Sven," Anna corrected, as, unbidden, her heart leapt at the sight of them. "I've invited them to dinner this evening, but I didn't think they'd come straight away, it's only three o'clock –"

Elsa smiled at her sister. "No, no that's good. I've got a very long speech to write, and I would hate to think of you just wandering around the halls alone again, like –"

"Like before. You have a point." Anna couldn't help but grin out the window. "Elsa, I really want you to meet Kristoff properly. Honestly, if it wasn't for him, I'd definitely have died of pneumonia long before I even got to your ice palace. Or been eaten by wolves or something."

Elsa repressed a shudder thinking of all the ways her sister could have died – could have died whilst searching for her. What had she been thinking, coming after her without even a party of guards for protection?

But that was Anna. Headstrong. Act first and think later.

Elsa pulled the breaks on this train of thought and looked a little shrewdly at her sister. " _Another_ man?"

"Oh – no, no it's not like that Elsa – I mean, I'm still probably engaged to – Hans – technically – aren't I?"

Elsa's face darkened. "Absolutely not. Not if you don't want to be." And she was uncertain for a moment what Anna would say. She hoped to God it would be _no, of course not, he tried to kill us both_ – but if it wasn't – if Anna said yes –there was no way Elsa could say no. No way at all. Not after last time.

"Oh, God, no," Anna pulled her hands away from Elsa's and covered her face. "I… I was wrong about him. Totally wrong. It wasn't… true love. Or even normal love. I don't think."

Elsa felt a sudden overwhelming guilt.

"I'm so sorry, Anna. If I'd just been here for you –"

"No," Anna replied, firmly. "No. If I'd just read different books. Or been a little less naïve. Don't you dare blame yourself for this. Not at all."

Elsa still looked unconvinced, but Anna kissed the her forehead and grinned. "Seriously, I just need to get a grip on reality somehow. Maybe your ice has knocked some sense into me. Now," She curtsied. "Your majesty. I'll leave you to your speech-writing." Then – very, very tentatively – "I'll see you at dinner?"

"You will."

With a wicked parting grin, Anna bounded down the corridors to the courtyard. She nearly knocked two servants flying on her way, but with shouted apologies, it was worth it – she skidded out the front doors just as Kristoff made it to the centre of the courtyard.

She stood awkwardly for a second, cheeks flushed from the run.

"Hey. I uh, I saw you from the window." She waved an airy hand upwards to where she was sure Elsa was still looking out, laughing at her.

"Hey. We were, uh – Olaf came to find us." He waved an airy hand downwards to where the little snowman stood beaming under his personal flurry.

"Cool. Great. Well, you're a little early, but do you, uh, want to –" She stopped. Frowned. "Are you wearing the same clothes as… the past three days?"

Kristoff turned bright red and rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Well. Yeah. But I washed them. This morning. All my other stuff, it's – it was in my sled. Or with the Trolls."

Anna went very wide eyed.

"Oh! Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I – God, I really didn't think how much stuff would be in that – God. I'm sorry." She bit her lip. "There have been so many apologies today."

"Hey," Kristoff moved towards her a little. "Don't worry about it. Really." He smiled a rare smile. It looked good on him, Anna thought.

There was a slight pause in which Olaf and Sven looked back and forth between the two of them.

Suddenly, Anna was struck with an idea. "We'll have to get you some new clothes! You can't wear that forever. And I did say I'd replace your sled and _everything_ in it," She hitched up her skirt a little and hurried down the steps towards Kristoff, already mentally whizzing through all the tailors in town. "Looks like I owe you a new wardrobe."

"Oh – no, really, don't worry about it, I never had too many clothes and stuff anyway –"

"Kristoff," She rubbed Sven's nose and fixed the man before her with a look of mock-horror. "Are you disobeying the wishes of the Princess of Arendelle?"

" –no. No, I wouldn't do that." Hesitantly he smiled. The smile fell. "I've never really been shopping before, though."

Now, Anna's look was of true horror. "What?!"

\--

When she was younger, Anna had only ever been allowed out of the castle on very special occasions – birthdays, national holidays – and even then only with the close supervision of her governess and an enormous train of servants. She had loved these days – _loved_ them – and tried to remember every detail of the town as they'd wandered about, drinking in the sights and people and atmosphere. When they returned to the castle and the gates were shut once more, she'd gaze for hours out of her window, squinting to make out the town buildings on the shore, the other side of the bridge from the castle. As such, her knowledge of the town's layout was sketchy.

"I know all the names of the tailors – but they always used to come visit us in the castle for fittings. My parents were very funny about strangers." She explained.

Kristoff nodded. "Figures. It's ok – if you can tell me the names of the shops, I should be able to find them for you."

They left Olaf and Sven in the courtyard, happily chasing each other around, and headed into town.

Kristoff shook his head. "How long do you think it will take Olaf to realise Sven wants to eat his nose, and not kiss it? Hey!"

He jumped as Anna hit him playfully. "Shh. Don't you dare tell him."

They walked along the cobbled streets in the sunshine, chattering away. It was much easier to talk now they were moving- like when they'd been searching for Elsa, or the Trolls, there was a clear goal and conversation just swelled to fill the space until they reached it. Anna did most of the talking, of course – but she was easy on the ears and always gave Kristoff her full attention when he did speak, fixing him intelligently with her eyes and taking every word in – just like when they'd been out in the mountains.

It was strange- nobody had ever really listened to Kristoff properly before her. Ice harvesters weren't known for their conversational skills, and his family had a habit of either talking over each other or speaking in unison – so it didn't have the same… effect. Anna gave him all the space he needed to speak before taking over again.

Anna quite liked the way he didn't talk too much, and only spoke to send her in a new direction or ask a simply-worded question. It reminded her a bit of the way her mother used to talk, always saying the right amount, giving her imagination space to romp and stretch and leap from one idea to the next.

Often, they found themselves supplying words for each other or finishing off the other's sentences.

" –so then I just totally freaked out, because – oh, here we are!"

Seeing the elegantly painted sign – _Frue Anja's Tailoring_ – she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the shop, announcing their arrival with the tinkle of a bell and an enthusiastic, "Hello!"

"My lady," there were murmurs and curtsies. "How nice to see you about the town. How can we help you this afternoon?"

Kristoff could see Anna already becoming distracted by a lilac-coloured dress hanging on a manikin to their right. He nudged her slightly.

"Oh – Anja, I'm looking for some things for my friend here. Kristoff, Anja; Anja, Kristoff." Anna stepped back and crossed her arms. The woman named Anja had swept over, measuring tape in hand, tutting and examining the tattered and patched old jumper Kristoff was wearing.

"Dear me. Dear dear me. Wherever did you find him, your majesty?"

Anna giggled. Kristoff gave her a look of pure terror as Anja scooted around him, measuring everything from the width of his shoulders to the length of his inside leg.

"Where on earth have you brought me, Anna?"

Anna just laughed and steered him towards the back of the shop.


	4. Two's Company

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 18/04 - just tweaked a few bits of Anna's dialogue here and a few bits of grammar about ice picks, and another tweak about Anna knowing where things are.
> 
> Renewing sentiments of thanks for the overwhelming feedback from all you guys. Thank you so much. X

Elsa heaved a great sigh and threw down her quill.

The speech in front of her was two pages long, covered in corrections and crossings out- but it was finished. She scanned over it with a critical eye, biting her lip in concentration.

"Olaf?"

"Elsa?"

"Could you fetch Kai for me? He's the head of staff here. Do you know who I mean?"

Olaf, who had spent the afternoon running around introducing himself to everyone he could find with an exuberant "Hi! I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!" nodded proudly. "Yep. What would you like me to say?"

"Just fetch him here for me, Olaf. Thank you." She smiled warmly at him as he trotted off amiably.

Elsa ran her hands over her face. This was going to be difficult.

Idly, she twirled her fingers about, making intricate patterns of snow dance about her.

She had no idea where Anna and her ice harvester had gone – but they'd walked out of the gate looking perfectly happy, and the sun was still high in the sky, so Elsa forced herself not worry about them. And besides, the ice harvester – Kristoff? –was enormous. He must have been about six foot four – she was reasonably tall, and he had towered over her – and was about twice as wide as most of the men she'd ever seen. She had half a mind to offer him a job as Anna's personal bodyguard. God knows it would give her peace of mind to know there was always someone to get Anna out of the sticky situations she seemed prone to.

There was a knock on the open door and Olaf bounced in, closely followed by Kai.

"You majesty."

"Kai. Thank you for coming to see me."

"What can I do for you?"

Elsa sighed. "I need to make a speech to the people. To explain the past few days."

Kai nodded sagely, utterly unphased. "Of course, your majesty. I shall make arrangements. When would you like to speak to them?"

Elsa hesitated; considered. Writing the speech had been hard. She felt utterly drained again, despite all the sleep she'd managed to get last night. Anna had mentioned something about dinner this evening. That would be nice.

"Tomorrow morning, if possible."

"Of course, your majesty. Will that be all?"

"No. Could you also inform the kitchen that Anna will be having a guest at dinner tonight? And – that I will be joining them in the dining room. I will not have dinner in my chambers today."

If Kai was surprised at this break in Elsa's thirteen-year habit of dining alone in her room, he did not show it. Nothing could really be a surprise after the past few days, Elsa reflected.

"Very good, your majesty. Will that be all?"

"Yes thank you, Kai. Olaf," She looked down at the little snowman. "Do you want to go help out in the kitchen? You can let them know that Anna will be wanting ice cream for dessert. And probably sandwiches for mains."

Kai bowed, Olaf laughed his odd little laugh and both left the room, making sure to leave the door wide open behind them.

\--

"No, a jacket, really? I don't think it's –"

Red faced and grumpy, Kristoff emerged from the back of the shop in a pair of loose grey trousers, a fresh blue shirt and stuffed into a very smart jacket. With contrast lapels.

Anna – rather unkindly, he thought – burst out laughing.

"Oh Kristoff," she choked. "You look very… dashing."

He scowled.

Anja was fussing about the shoulders of the jacket.

"You are too broad, young man," she complained. "I hardly have any jackets that will fit across the shoulders!"

"I really don't think a jacket is necessary," he muttered. "The shirt is all right, but-"

"What about this, Anja?" Anna was holding up a dark grey open-fronted jerkin. "See? Sleeveless! No shoulders!"

"Hmm." Anja looked over it with a critical eye. "Perhaps."

Kristoff gratefully shook off the jacket and shrugged into the jerkin.

"That looks great!" Anna enthused. "And it fits. Across the shoulders. What do you think, Anja?"

The woman reluctantly nodded. "It is rather smart."

Kristoff self-consciously mussed his hair.

"We'll take it. Have you got some more shirts like this, Anja?"

"Oh, no –" Kristoff mumbled. "Anna, just one is fine, honestly –"

"You don't have _any_ clothes, Kristoff," Anna crossed her arms, pouting. "This is the least I can do."

Kristoff muttered something unintelligible.

A few minutes later, laden with bags outside Frue Anja's, Anna told Kristoff to stay put for a moment whilst she hurried over to a nearby street vendor and asked him something in a low, earnest voice. The man seemed to be giving directions.

"Amazing. Thank you!"

She skipped back over, and dragged Kristoff down a little side street.

"Anna, are we not going back to the castle? It must be nearly five –"

"One more shop," Anna declared. "And don't worry, I think you'll like this one."

Kristoff groaned. "I seriously doubt that."

"Shh you," she said. "We're nearly done."

They rounded a corner and found themselves outside _Claude's Climbing Supplies._

Kristoff's eyes went very wide.

"Anna, this is a top-of-the-range shop, I can't afford anything in here."

"It's a good thing I can then," she grinned. "Come on!"

Kristoff pushed open the door and crossed the threshold of the shop as if walking into a shrine.

He let out a low whistle.

"Anna…" He turned around to see her beaming. "Anna, you can't get me anything here. This is too nice."

Very gently, she took his arm and steered him into the shop. "You helped me find my sister. How can anything be too nice?"

\--

The dusky sun was brushing the horizon when they returned to the castle, two bags of climbing tools, saws and ice picks mixed in amongst the bags from Frue Anja's. Kristoff was stammering his thanks over and over again, and explaining the use and purpose of every axe and rope to Anna.

"And the pick, well that's your most important tool really. The amount of times my last pick got me out of trouble was crazy really."

It was the most animated he'd been all day, and Anna couldn't stop grinning about it.

"What?"

"Nothing."

He huffed.

When they reached the doors, Anna asked one of the servants to take Kristoff's new clothes to a guest room and his new tools to Sven's stall.

"Sven has a stall?"

"Sure. I couldn't just leave him in the courtyard all day. He's got pretty much all the carrots Bethan could find in the kitchen too."

"Anna, this is lovely, but you don't need to give me a guest room. Or give Sven a stall. We're fine in the town, really –"

"Oh, sure I do. It's the least I can do."

Her generosity might be nothing to her – but Kristoff fell into a very overwhelmed silence as she led them through the corridors to the dining hall. No one – well, no person – had ever been so kind to him in his life. He didn't know what to do with himself.

_People will beat you and curse you and cheat you…_

He shook that thought from his mind and tried to focus on what Anna was saying about the room of paintings they had just passed.

A servant pushing open the door to the dining room bowed to Anna and Kristoff as they passed. Anna politely curtsied back, but Kristoff looked at the servant as if he were mad.

"Thank you Erik. Is my sister around?"

"She is just on her way down, ma'am. She saw your approach and will be with you shortly."

Anna looked overjoyed. _"On her way down?"_

"Yes, my lady. She will be dining with you and your guest tonight."

It was Anna's turn to be overwhelmed. She turned to Kristoff. _"I didn't think she'd actually come to dinner!"_

Kristoff was confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Elsa hasn't eaten dinner in the dining hall since we were little. She always eats in her chambers. I mean, I invited her, but I didn't think she'd actually come –"

Babbling away, Anna walked into the hall, Kristoff following.

"Woah."

It was huge – bigger than every room in the Cross and Courtier combined. It had high ceilings, great tall windows and high-backed, cushioned dining chairs clustered around a table laden with silverware. The legs of the table tapered elegantly down, and where they met the smooth flat of the tabletop, the wood was carved into the crocus of Arendelle.

Kristoff hadn't realised his mouth was hanging open until he heard Anna's giggle.

"Come sit down."

They'd barely sat when Elsa appeared at the door. She looked tired, but smiled when she saw them both.

"Hi."

"Elsa! You came to dinner!" Like an incredibly smiley yoyo, Anna leapt up from the chair she'd just sat down in and ran over to her sister as Kristoff scrambled to his feet.

"I said I would."

Anna was speechless – for once.

Elsa eased herself into a seat at the head of the table and gestured for them to sit.

"So. How was your day?"

"Oh, it was great!" Anna gushed. She couldn't take her eyes of her sister, who was actually here, really, genuinely here, having dinner with her like… well, like a normal family. "I took Kristoff shopping."

Elsa raised an eyebrow, deadpan. "You have my sympathy, Kristoff."

"What! No, shopping with me is _great_!"

The doors opened and in came servants bearing bowls of soup and platters of fresh bread.

A bowl was placed before them all. Anna dug in with gusto. Kristoff looked down at the three different kinds of spoons before him in despair.

"We went and got some new clothes – Kristoff doesn't have any clothes – well, he does now – and some climbing supplies. And ice stuff. You will note," Anna raised her spoon to emphasise her point, clearly very proud of herself, "that he looks far more seasonably dressed than yesterday."

Elsa cast a long look over Kristoff. He did look much less wintery now, his huge furs, jumper and gloves replaced by a simple open-necked shirt and jerkin. "Very nice."

Anna laughed and Kristoff smiled rather queasily.

"Why did you not have any clothes?"

Kristoff and Anna exchanged glances.

"That's quite a long story. We're going to need more than just a starter to tell that one, I think."


	5. Fill Me In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the comments and kudos - it means the world. As ever, feedback appreciated. 
> 
> I've read a few fics where Anna seems to cry at every mention of Hans' name - I never saw Anna like that. I always felt she was pretty emotionally resiliant. As such this chapter contains FiestyPants!Anna, as well as some mild language.
> 
> Hope you enjoy these next couple of chapters! X
> 
> UPDATE 18/04 - made a few dialogue tweaks for Elsa, and expanded the quick section about Elsa's thoughts regarding Hans' attempt on her life.

Dinner was finished, plates were cleared and Anna was scraping the last of the ice cream out of her sundae glass. Elsa sipped a coffee and Kristoff sat very straight in his chair, hands folded beneath the table. He was more relaxed than he had been at the start of the meal – three glasses of wine, the warm glances Anna kept shooting at him and Elsa's sincere interest in his ice expertise had eased his anxiety – but he couldn't stop himself from constantly tugging self-consciously at the new shirt, and it was all he could do to fight the overwhelming impulse to run down to Sven's stall and curl into a little ball of concentrated awkwardness.

Elsa had just finished explaining the speech she was going to give tomorrow – about her powers, about how she'd spent the last thirteen years trying to control them, and why she'd run, and how she hoped Arendelle would forgive her – when she set down her coffee cup and looked very seriously at her companions. "So," she said, finally. "I think you two owe me a story."

Anna glanced at Kristoff. "Where should we begin?"

Elsa hesitated; swallowed; steeled herself. "After I left the party."

Anna nodded. She pushed her sundae glass away, took a deep breath, and began.

"After you ran out across the fjord, Hans noticed it was freezing over – I don't know, I think maybe everything was freezing behind you, so you didn't see it? – but when we got back to the courtyard, it was snowing. The Duke of Weselton – you remember him, the guy with the toupee?"

The corner of Elsa's mouth twitched, breaking her otherwise incredibly serious composure. "How could I forget those dance moves?"

"Well, yes, him – he was shouting something about you cursing Arendelle. Obviously, I told him that wasn't true – that it was obviously an accident – but then he turned to me, and started accusing _me_ of having powers – which obviously I don't – but I realised I had to go after you. It was my fault you'd – well – "

"Gone all ice-crazy." Kristoff supplied helpfully.

"Yeah – so I said I was going after you. Hans – Hans didn't like the idea, of course, but I had to go. I left him in charge," Anna paused, and looked at her sister with eyes full of guilt. "That was stupid. I'm sorry. I should have trusted your judgement, Elsa."

Elsa frowned so hard her eyebrows almost touched in the middle. "Anna, don't be silly. It's not your fault I – well –"

"Went all ice-crazy." Kristoff took up his cue again. He looked into his wine glass and took a drink. He was a heavyweight – he always had been – but the room did have a warm softness that it hadn't had before. The three different kinds of spoons and four different kinds of knives and forks seemed a lot less intimidating now. He couldn't help noticing how sweet it was that Anna waved her hands about when she told a story.

"Yes." Elsa said. "It's not your fault Anna."

"But –"

"Not your fault."

Anna sighed. It was pointless arguing.

"After that, I went to find you. I didn't really think to change my dress, or – anything really, I just put on a cloak." She glanced at Kristoff and grimaced. "And it just kept getting colder. I was just over the north hills when Sam – my horse," She quickly supplied for Kristoff – "When Sam bolted. I fell off, and there was snow everywhere, and, _yeesh_ , it was freezing, but I was kind of too far to turn back now, so I just kept going. I think it must have been – about nine when I got to Oaken's?" She looked to Kristoff for confirmation. He shrugged.

"Around then. Wandering Oaken's Trading Post." He quickly explained to Elsa.

"And Sauna."

"And Sauna. It's kind of a halfway house on the way to the North Pass."

Elsa nodded. "I've heard of it. Why were you there, Kristoff?"

Kristoff shrugged again. "I'd been collecting ice when the blizzard hit – I guess that must have been when you reached the Mountain. Anyway, I could tell it was getting worse, so I loaded up the sled and headed towards Oaken's."

"So, I was in Oaken's trying to defrost a bit –" Anna chipped in, "– and buy some clothes that weren't you know, a _ball gown_ , and maybe a map or something, I don't know –"

"– when I walked in."

Anna giggled. "You looked like a yeti or something. Totally _covered_ in snow," She explained to Elsa.

"Hey. It was a magical snowstorm. What's a guy to do?"

"Anyhow, Kristoff was getting some carrots for Sven – the reindeer – and some ropes or something, I don't know –"

"And you were totally in the way –"

"– and anyway, Kristoff had a fight with Oaken –"

"– that guy is such a _crook_ –"

"– and got chucked out. But not before I'd asked him about the storm. He seemed like a guy who knew about snow. And he said it was coming from the North Mountain. And that it _did_ seem magical."

"Anna bought the rope and carrots, and followed me."

"I got the boots and stuff too," She added quickly. "Don't worry."

Elsa couldn't help but grin as the two of them told the story, finishing each other's sentences.

"What?" Asked Anna, outraged at her sister's smile. "This is a very dramatic and tragic story of heartbreak and natural disaster!"

Elsa rearranged her face into a suitably serious expression. "Sorry. Go on."

"So, Kristoff agreed to take me up the North Mountain, to find you. But as we were on our way up, there were these wolves."

"A whole pack," Kristoff explained. His brow had furrowed. "We managed to get away –"

" _I_ fought them off," said Anna, smugly.

"As if. You almost set me on fire. _And_ you broke my lute."

Anna flapped her hand at him. "Pfft, detail, detail. We were coming up to this enormous ravine, and Sven made the most incredible jump across it –"

" – but my sled wasn't so lucky."

At this point, Anna looked very guilty. "I'm sorry about your sled."

"It's ok."

"So, I owe him a new one," Anna turned back to her sister. "And I need to replace everything in it," She said, rather guilty again. "Hence the clothes. And the tools."

"You really spent too much."

"Oh, hush. I did not."

"Hmm."

"Anyway, after that we met Olaf – that was strange – and, you know, after freaking out for a bit, we realised _you'd_ made him. And he knew where you were."

Elsa nodded. Her coffee had gone cold, and she was utterly aghast. _Wolves?_

"God, Anna, I'm so sorry. I put you in so much danger. I put you both in so much danger," She corrected, turning to Kristoff. "And Anna is completely right – it's the least we can do to replace your things. You didn't have to help us – but you did. You helped two complete strangers."

"He didn't even know who I was until we were halfway up the mountain, either. _And_ he still came with me even after I ruined his sled." Anna added.

Kristoff shifted uncomfortably. He looked down at his wine. "Well, yeah, you know. Anyone would have done the same. You would have died on your own."

Elsa shuddered slightly. "Thank you, Kristoff."

"The next bit you know, anyway. So after your _giant snowman_ chased us away–"

"Marshmallow." Kristoff corrected. Anna looked at him in confusion. He flushed. "That's what Olaf calls him."

Anna nodded, somewhat impressed. "After Marshmallow _threw us off a cliff_ anyway, my hair started turning white – " She glanced back at Kristoff. "– and Kristoff said he knew who could help us. The love experts," she grinned. "Kristoff's family. They're Rock Trolls."

Elsa gasped. Anna reached for her arm, concerned.

"What?"

"The Rock Trolls?"

"Yeah," confusion. "Is that… what's wrong with that?"

Elsa buried her face in her hands. Kristoff understood, and cleared his throat.

"Anna… you know when I said I'd seen them do it before?"

She was still confused. "Yeah?"

"When I was little – when it was just Sven and me – we were out in the woods one night when two horses ran past us. They were leaving a trail of ice before them." He glanced at the queen, who was peeking up at him through her fingers, now looking as confused as her sister. "Well, you know, ice is my life, so we followed them, me and Sven." Suddenly, he felt really quite under pressure. He gripped the edge of the table to steady himself. "They got to the clearing – the one where the Trolls live. I saw that the horses had carried a man and a woman and two children. I think – I mean, I didn't really make the connection for a while – that was you, your sister and your parents."

Elsa was gazing at Kristoff open-mouthed.

"Yes. That was us."

They held eye contact for a moment. It was… strange. Elsa looked and Kristoff and Kristoff looked at Elsa with a new kind of realisation.

"When we were little, Anna – you knew all about my powers. One night, we were playing in the hall – that's when we built Olaf – and I – I struck you. With my powers."

"In the head." Kristoff supplied.

Anna looked so confused.

"But – we built Olaf as kids outside. Outside by the fjord. I remember."

Elsa shook her head. "I'm so sorry, Anna." She looked to Kristoff, quite helpless.

"Grandpabbie had to remove the magic from your head. To do it, he removed all the magic. Even the memories of magic."

Elsa looked desperately at her sister. "That's why you don't remember anything about my powers from when we were kids. It – it had to be taken out. The Troll – Grandpabbie, did you call him? –warned us that my powers would only get stronger, and more dangerous. After that, mama and papa decided it would be best to keep me separate from everyone. Best for us all. I didn't want to hurt you again."

Elsa was tearing up, and Kristoff looked away, embarrassed. A sudden soft grip on his arm brought him back however, and he saw Elsa's hand around his forearm, her eyes full of Anna.

"…that's why you never let me in. That's why you shut me out." Anna said slowly.

Elsa nodded.

A moment.

"Oh, Elsa!" The scraping of Anna's chair broke the silence as she stood and flung her arms around her sister. They embraced across the table and the ends of Anna's plaits dipped into Elsa's cold coffee cup – though neither of them noticed. They held each other for a long while.

Kristoff shifted uncomfortably.

On the one hand, he felt privileged – very privileged – to bear witness to this moment. It moved him – which was strange. Kristoff had never really felt moved by anyone, until he met Anna.

On the other, he felt very, very awkward. He stole glances at them, finishing off his glass of wine as unobtrusively as he could.

Eventually, the two girls broke apart, both glossy-eyed and slightly red-nosed. They smiled.

"So…" Kristoff cleared his throat. "So when I brought Anna to the Trolls again… they knew what to do."

Anna sniffed, and nodded, picking up the narrative again. "They said only an act of true love could save me. So we came back here… to Hans."

Kristoff looked at Anna. "I don't know what happened after I brought you to the gates."

He said it very quietly.

"Oh, you know," Anna waved an airy hand around and tried her best to be nonchalant. "Gerda and Kai – those are our servants, Kristoff – brought me inside, to Hans. They left us together, but instead of kissing me, Hans said he never really loved me," a tiny crease had appeared between Anna's eyebrows, but her tone was light. Too light. "He'd come to Arendelle to marry into the throne. He has twelve older brothers," she explained. "So no chance of succession in the Southern Isles."

Elsa's mouth had disappeared into a thin, white line and Kristoff couldn't help but clench his fist under the table. It was nonsensical to both of them that somebody could lie to Anna like that – deliberately hurt her like that. She was so easily bruised.

"He was going to kill you, Elsa," Anna said quietly. "After we got married. So that he would be king by marriage. But – 'then you doomed yourself and I was dumb enough to go after you' –" her fingers sketched quotation marks around this and there was an odd, unfamiliar edge of bitterness under all the lightness of her tone. "So he didn't need to do anything but leave me to freeze. And, I suppose, then accuse you of treason."

"The sword," Elsa muttered. "That makes more sense now. I didn't see it – till after – but I wasn't exactly sure what had happened."

"He thought if he killed you he would be 'the hero that saved Arendelle from destruction'." Anna's voice swooped in melodrama, but underneath that, shook with anger.

"And you sacrificed yourself to save me." Elsa's voice was uncharacteristically tight with emotion.

"Ahh, you know," Anna shrugged, and the moment of intensity was broken. "All in a day's work. It was nothing." She smiled. "Hans was no match for you anyway."

"So – to be clear – that _was_ Hans? On the fjord? And the boat?" Kristoff felt the tension had subsided enough for him to quickly confirm that his guess had been right.

Anna nodded.

Kristoff grinned. "You must've broke his nose, Anna."

This brought a little smile from her.

"Where is he now?" Kristoff asked Elsa.

"Tomas – captain of the guard, Kristoff – told me he's being held in the dungeons for now. He came this afternoon to ask what to do with him."

"What did you say?"

"I told him to keep him there for now."

Anna nodded.

After a moment, Kristoff brought the conversation back. "So… you were both on the fjord…" he directed this question to both of them.

Anna shrugged. "I was trying to find you."

Suddenly, she went bright red.

"I mean – I had to get out of the castle, it was freezing over, and Olaf – he'd come to find me after Hans ran off – saw you coming back, so I thought it would be a good idea, because, you know, I didn't know where anyone else was, and I was turning into ice, and you'd been good at helping me so far, so it made sense, you know, so –"

Elsa swooped in to save her. "I'd just escaped from the dungeon."

 _"What?!"_ Anna and Kristoff said together.

Elsa shrugged. "Everyone thought I'd frozen Arendelle on purpose. Hans and some guards came to find me, in my ice palace, and brought me back here. They locked me up. That's when I saw what I'd done to Arendelle."

"Hans _locked you up_?" Anna was outraged. "That _bastard_ , oh, a broken nose is too good for him, I'm going to –"

She'd risen from her seat, fists curled into little balls and seemed to have half a mind to go find the Prince of the Southern Isles right that moment.

"Easy, fiestypants," said Kristoff, gently motioning for her to sit. "It's ok."

Elsa liked that nickname. She smiled crookedly at the ice harvester who seemed both very strange and right at home at their table.

Anna flumped back down into her seat. "I could _kill_ him."

"I heard guards coming for me, anyway," continued Elsa. "So I escaped. I froze the bricks and broke through the wall."

Kristoff looked impressed.

"Your magic is… pretty amazing."

Elsa was surprised.

"You say that after I plunged Arendelle into an eternal winter?"

"You say eternal. It only lasted a few days, really."

Elsa was taken aback. In a good way.

"And the rest you know, I suppose," Anna smiled. "The rest kinda worked out ok."

Elsa took her hand.

Suddenly, Anna's smile became a grin. "Elsa. Do the magic."

Elsa dropped her hand.

"Please." Anna grinned, almost bouncing in her seat. "Do the magic!"

Elsa hesitated. She looked from the face of her wide-eyed sister to the curious expression of the ice harvester. Neither looked afraid. The room was full of – well, the room was full of love.

Elsa inhaled. Exhaled. Twirled her fingers a little.

Beautiful, intricate ice patterns curled along the table. Effortlessly, four tiny walls rose from the centre of the table. With the gentle iridescent shiver of silver and blue, the ice formed towers and roof slates, windows and doors, battlements and walkways. Ice crystals sprawled across the faces of each miniature brick, creating fissures and pits and textures. As the tallest tower of this replica castle tapered to a neat point, a tiny snowflake glowed and balanced atop it and the gates swung open.

"Ohhh," Anna's voice was full of awe.

"Woah," Kristoff breathed.

Elsa betrayed a smile.

With a final wiggle of her fingers, a tiny, frozen ice-Olaf materialised in the centre of the miniature courtyard.

Anna giggled. "Make Sven too!"

A glow of magic. A little ice reindeer appeared beside the snowman.

Kristoff reached a hand softly into the sculpture and picked up the little figurine. He peered at it in fascination.

"You got his expression just right." He passed it over to Anna, wide-eyed. "See?"

Anna was delighted.

\--

Sometime later, after Anna had insisted Elsa make a series of tiny ice-Hans which she had proceeded to decapitate with her sundae spoon, they said their good nights.

Kristoff and Anna wandered down the corridor to the guest rooms, chattering happily.

"I feel so much better." Anna admitted.

"After talking to your sister about it all?"

"Yeah. I finally understand. And so does she."

Kristoff smiled.

"It's so nice to… to see her. And to have her actually here! Oh," She slipped a hand around Kristoff's arm. "This is going to take some _serious_ getting used to."

They reached the room Kai had informed them had been prepared for the guest.

"This is you," Anna peered inside. "I hope it's ok? I know it's been made up quite quickly –"

Allowing her hand to loose from his arm, Kristoff took a few steps forward and looked inside. His eyes went very wide.

"Anna, it's more than ok. Thank you." He turned, and hesitated. "Look, I really don't mind getting a room in town –"

"Nope."

Kristoff rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Fine."

They hovered awkwardly on the threshold of the room for a moment. Inside, candlelight cast a warm, burning glow over everything and made their shadows giants.

Kristoff cleared his throat.

"Good night, Anna."

"Good night, Kristoff."


	6. Morning After

The next morning dawned bright and clear. Elsa, as usual, was up at the crack of dawn.

Today was the day, she thought, and her stomach flip-flopped. She owed Arendelle an explanation – an apology – and this morning, they would get it. But would they accept it?

Stretching, Elsa got up. It still felt strange to be in her own bed. She walked to the mirror.

Her hair was piled up in a bun and ruffled from sleep – a good sleep – and the smudges of make-up she hadn't managed to remove last night darkened her lower lids. Sleepers crackled at the corners of her eyes.

She splashed her face with water and stared into the mirror.

She felt she should have looked different – but she didn't. The same blue eyes stared back at her, and the same white-blonde hair fell about her face in jagged strips. Her mouth was still small and naturally rested with the corners downturned. She still had the beginnings of worry lines etched between her eyebrows.

Elsa probed her face with long fingers, pulling the skin of her cheekbone up, imagining what she would look like without bags under her eyes. She pulled down her lower lip to see whether a fuller mouth would suit her. Every imperfection and flaw in her skin was familiar and unpleasant – she'd studied her face a thousand times before, always asking _why_ she had to be this way.

Elsa sighed. This was not the time for doubt. There was not time today.

After brushing out her hair, she pulled it into a neat bun at the base of her skull. She'd thrown away her tiara at the top of the North Mountain – stupid, that tiara was worth a fortune – so echoes of the hairstyle she'd had at the coronation would have to do. So much had happened over the past few days that it could only be a good idea to pull the memory of Arendelle back to before all this madness.

Going over to her wardrobe, she lovingly ran her hand over the sleeve of her ice gown, but sighed and picked out something slightly more… regal. And not as ice-themed. No use labouring the point.

_"Hi, everyone, sorry about the past few days… as you now all know, I have uncontrollable magic ice powers. Sorry about that. But look at this enchanted ice-dress I made! Pretty!…"_

Elsa sighed.

Eight o'clock came and went. She had always been an early riser, and the servants always had her breakfast prepared and in her room at eight on the dot. She'd left no orders to change this last night, so waited. But after ten minutes passed, she ventured downstairs.

Cautiously, she pushed the dining room door open; the room had been prepared. The miniature ice castle still sparkled on the table, and last night's detritus had been replaced by plates of Danish pastries, fruit, and a steaming pot of coffee – which had to be for her. Anna didn't drink coffee.

The servants had caught onto the changes quicker than perhaps she had given them credit for.

Elsa suddenly felt a little overwhelmed.

"Hi! Good morning, Elsa!"

"Olaf! You're up early. I didn't expect to see anyone."

"I don't sleep. I'm made of snow. How are you?"

"I'm ok. A little nervous. But ok. Did you – how did the servants know I was coming down for breakfast?"

Olaf blinked at her. "Everything's different now, Elsa. Even _I_ know that."

Elsa sat down slowly, nodding. "You're right, Olaf. I suppose it is."

\--

Kristoff had been up for hours. In the mountains, you started work as soon as the sun rose. Daylight hours were precious, and as such his sleeping pattern had always been inextricably tied to the sunrise.

Yesterday had been an exception – he supposed the fact that Anna had basically forbidden sleep until they found Elsa had really taken it out of him – but already he could feel the old habit returning.

He didn't have a clue what to do, though. What did people do in the morning at a castle? Where did breakfast come from? What time would it be at? It was unlikely that they just ate a hunk of bread before shouldering an ice pick and heading off to the frozen lakes.

Very cautiously, he poked his head around the guest room door.

The corridor was deserted. It seemed to stretch endlessly in both directions.

Now, last night, he and Anna had come from the right… but where before then? He knew the mountain roads and passes like the back of his hand, but he'd never had much of a memory for new places. Much less new places that were also castles and _labyrinths._

"Are you all right sir?"

He was saved from indecision by an unfamiliar voice.

A small woman with an armful of linen appraised him.

"Um. Yes. Do you know where I can find Princess Anna?"

"Oh, she won't be up yet sir. Princess Anna doesn't usually wake until about half past ten or eleven. Though as queen Elsa is to address the people this morning, she may be up a little earlier." The servant bobbed into a curtsey and made to leave.

"Wait! I mean – just a moment," Kristoff said, feeling impending panic at being completely lost and alone in a strange castle. "I, um – what time is Queen Elsa's address?"

"Eleven o'clock, sir."

Eleven. That was still two and a half hours away.

"Would you be able to direct me to the stables?"

"Certainly sir. If you go down this corridor, take the stairs on your left down two flights, you will find yourself in the entrance hall. From there, out the front doors and round the right of the courtyard are the stables."

She curtsied and left.

 _Down the corridor, stairs on the left…_ Kristoff repeated the directions to himself. _You got this. You found your way around yesterday._

Kristoff found his way to the entrance hall, and was just getting his bearings, when –

"Kristoff?"

He spun round.

"Elsa. I mean, your majesty," Kristoff did the funny little bow again. "Sorry. I was just looking for the stables."

"That's all right." She paused. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"Oh, no, I'm ok, I was just going to go see Sven –"

At that moment, his stomach gave a huge, traitorous rumble.

Elsa laughed.

"Come on. Anna's not up yet, but I'll show you the way."

She gestured for him to follow, and Kristoff thought it would be only rude to object.

\--

Elsa hadn't been able to eat too much that morning – nervous about the address at eleven – so there was plenty of food left for Kristoff.

He mumbled his thanks when she motioned for him to sit down, and helped himself to a single pastry.

Elsa remained standing and hesitated, about to go. This whole entertaining thing was very new to her.

"Have you eaten?" He asked politely.

"Oh, yes, thank you."

There was a slight silence.

Elsa made a sudden decision and sat down.

"Kristoff. About Anna."

He almost choked on the pastry.

"Was she all right in the mountains? Did anything else happen to you both? I know she would hold back anything she thought would upset me."

Oh. "Yes, she was fine. She did well, actually." The corner of his mouth twitched at the memory of her trying to climb the mountain. "She's tougher than she looks."

Elsa dropped her head into her hands. "I can't believe she came after me alone. In a _ball_ gown."

Kristoff's mouth twitched again, but he didn't really know what to say. "I'd believe most things of her."

"I really can't thank you enough, Kristoff. I'm sure you saved her life more than once out there."

Kristoff smiled awkwardly. "This is pretty heavy conversation for half nine in the morning."

At this, Elsa burst out laughing. Kristoff was very taken aback.

She wiped her eyes. "I like you, Kristoff," she said, still chuckling. "You're so direct. How long are you staying for?"

He finished his first pastry and took another thoughtfully. "I'm not sure."

"I think Anna would like you to stay a while."

"Well, I can't go anywhere without a sled. I need it for my ice business."

"Oh, of course," Elsa thought for a moment. "We'll have to sort that out for you. Well," she thought for a moment. "Anna may have to sort that out for you; it depends how this speech goes later."

Kristoff nodded. "It will go fine. I'm sure of it."

Elsa raised her eyebrows slightly at this. Kristoff flushed a little. Gruffly: "You probably didn't see how excited Arendelle was about the coronation. I was delivering some ice for the party, and honestly, I've never heard people so excited about open gates."

Elsa contemplated this for a second. "I won't get my hopes up. But thank you, Kristoff. Now," she smiled at him. "I should go see if Anna is awake."

Kristoff hastily swallowed the rest of the pastry and stood as Elsa rose. She saw this unexpected display of courtesy with interest: perhaps there was hope for him.

Then he wiped crumbs from his mouth with the back of his hand. Maybe not.

"Thank you for breakfast, your majesty."

"You are very welcome, Kristoff."

He dipped his huge frame into his funny little bow and lumbered out of the dining room. Elsa watched him go with a smile.

\--

"Anna. _Anna_."

"Mmmnn."

"Wake up, you."

"Mmmelsa?"

"Yes, sleepyhead. Time to get up."

"Elsa!" Sleepy Anna was the sweetest kind of Anna, Elsa thought, as her sister mumbled the greeting and threw her bed-warm arms about her without even opening her eyes.

"How did you sleep?"

"Like a baby," Anna mumbled, collapsing back down into her blankets. "You?"

"Really well, actually. Are you ready for breakfast?"

"Always." Anna sat up and let out a huge yawn, stretching her arms high above her head. "Is Kristoff up?"

"Yes. I just met him in the entrance hall."

"Entrance hall?" Anna's eyes pushed themselves open in distress. "Is he going?"

"No silly. He's just gone to see Sven. It is Sven?"

"Yeah." Happy again, Anna wriggled her legs up under the covers until she was cross-legged. "I should go say hi."

"Breakfast first." Elsa suddenly grinned. "Do you really think he'd go without saying goodbye?"

"Shh," said Anna, "It's early."

"It's ten o'clock!"

" _Early,_ " Anna insisted.

Elsa waited whilst Anna got dressed and fixed her hair. When she emerged, slightly brighter-eyed and in a periwinkle blue dress that Elsa thought looked beautiful on her, she took her arm.

"When's your speech, Elsa?"

"Eleven."

"It will be fine," Anna smiled up at her sister. "They love you!"

"That's what Kristoff said. In more words."

"More words?" Anna was horrified. "It really _is_ early."

Elsa chuckled. "Are you going to eat in the dining room, or just get something from the kitchen?"

"Kitchen," Anna hummed. "Tea and toast."

"Say hello to Kristoff for me."

Anna elbowed her sister.

Elsa grinned wickedly for a moment. Then her smile faded. "Anna. If things don't go well at the address –"

"They will."

"If they don't. I want you to keep Kristoff around. He'll look after you. And I trust him."

"The speech _will_ go well, Elsa. You're not going anywhere. But can we keep Kristoff around anyway?"

Elsa chuckled. "He's not a pet, Anna."

Anna's eyes went very wide. "No, no I didn't mean like that – I just mean –"

"I know. And yes. Of course we can."

"You like him then, huh?"

"I really do."

That was good enough for Anna.


	7. An Audience of Thousands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The titular tea finally makes an appearance, and Elsa addresses Arendelle.

"Hey. No duet today?"

Kristoff looked up in surprise, rag in hand. He'd been bent over one of Sven's hooves, clearly in the process of checking it for damage. He dropped the hoof at the sound of Anna's voice, though, and his free hand leapt up to rub the back of his neck. Sven's tongue lolled out and his tail wagged in greeting.

"Hey. No, no duet today. I'm – I need to think of some new verses."

Anna laughed. She was carrying a delicate little tray – blue, with beautifully painted purple crocuses on it – bearing two china cups, saucers, a teapot, spoons, a little jug of milk, a pot of sugar, sliced lemon and a jar of honey, all of which were sliding, slowly but surely, towards the edge of the tray.

Seeing this, Kristoff leapt forward and steadied it.

"You're a liability. How do you have any cups left in that castle?"

He suddenly realised that in levelling the tray, his fingers had closed over Anna's. He quickly dropped his hand.

"Oh, we have to get new crockery sets every three months or so," Anna said breezily, seeming not to have noticed a thing. She set the tray down on a free grooming stool before rubbing Sven's nose in greeting. "Hi Sven. I'm sure some of the servants have bets on how many cups I manage to break each day. Or things I spill. I brought some tea." She waved her hand at the tray.

"I can see."

"I've got milk, sugar, honey and lemon… I don't know how you take your tea. Do you drink tea?" She added anxiously.

Kristoff nodded.

"Phew. I don't know if we could be friends if you didn't drink tea. Elsa prefers coffee." Anna made a face.

Kristoff smiled. "Just plain tea is good for me."

Anna poured a cup for him. He gingerly took it, the tiny bone china seeming much too small and fragile for his heavy, weathered hands.

Anna did not notice his hesitancy though, and proceeded to generously add milk and sugar to her own cup before transferring the tray to the floor and perching on the stool herself.

"How did you sleep?"

Kristoff carefully took a gulp of tea before answering.

"Good. Actually, more than good. Is it a _feather_ bed in that room?"

Anna looked confused. "Of course."

"I've never slept in a feather bed before."

Anna looked even more confused. "What? What do you normally sleep in?"

Kristoff shrugged and took up the rag again. "Like I said the other day. Anything really. Proper beds aren't commonplace on the ice fields."

"Do you not stay with the Trolls? Though," Anna considered. "I suppose they don't really do feather beds either."

Kristoff shook his head in disbelief. "How you ever managed to survive in the mountains I'll never know. Especially having learnt this morning how long you normally sleep for in your _feather bed_."

Anna huffed. "There's nothing wrong with not being a morning person."

Kristoff laughed.

"So what are your new verses going to be about then?"

"Oh, you know," Kristoff changed hooves. "Something about how people aren't all that bad, maybe. Sometimes they bring you tea and give you a feather bed to sleep in."

Anna grinned. "Well, I've never been a muse before. That's a first."

Kristoff straightened and rubbed his back. He gave Sven a pat. "Come on then buddy. Let's get you brushed before Elsa's address."

"Ohh, I'll help!" Anna jumped up, tea still in hand. Kristoff looked apprehensive. He took a gulp of his own tea very mistrustfully.

"I'm not sure about that."

"I'm great at grooming. I brush Sam all the time!"

"Sam's a horse."

"Horse, reindeer – it can't be that different."

Kristoff exchanged a look with Sven. "What do you think?"

Sven snorted.

 _"Please don't let the clumsy princess brush me,"_ Kristoff murmured in Sven's derpy baritone. " _She'll take my eye out!_ Hmm. I kind of agree, buddy. But maybe we should give her a chance. She means well." All this was said very quietly, and he scratched under Sven's chin before looking up to smile at Anna.

She was looking at him very strangely.

He flushed.

"Oh boy. This is like the Rocks all over again, isn't it?"

That made her laugh.

"It's ok. The Rocks turned out to be not so crazy after all." She grinned. "So Sven says yes, right?"

\--

Twenty minutes later, the tea was finished and Sven's coat was shining.

"We should head back inside. It's nearly eleven."

Kristoff nodded. He dusted down his jerkin, trying to remove as much reindeer hair as possible. He could hear the steadily increasing rumble of voices drifting in from outside. He knew townsfolk would have packed themselves into the courtyard and the surrounding streets to try to hear what their enigmatic queen had to say.

"You stay here, Sven. It's going to be busy out there."

Sven huffed in agreement and nudged a bag hanging off a peg at the side of the stall.

Kristoff rummaged in the bag and produced a carrot. He handed it to Sven. "See you later."

Giving the reindeer a solid pat, and grabbing another carrot for himself, Kristoff turned back to Anna. "You ready?"

She was bouncing on the balls of her feet and didn't seem to hear him.

"Anna?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure. I was born ready." She flashed a grin that didn't quite mask the anxiety underneath.

Leaving Sven munching, they walked round the stables and back into the courtyard. It was, as expected, packed.

Anna grabbed Kristoff's hand and pulled him into the crowd.

"Sorry, excuse me, sorry, coming though–"

The crowd squashed up each other like fish in a catch to create a narrow pathway for the Princess of Arendelle. Kristoff threw them as many apologetic looks as he could as they pushed their way through.

"Anna –"

"Excuse me – oops, sorry –"

"Anna!" He finally shook his hand from her grasp. "I should probably stay here."

She immediately stopped and looked back at him, confused. The throng on either side of them was still packed tighter than sardines and seeing this, Kristoff impatiently steered Anna forward.

They reached a pocket of space by the castle doors and stopped. "I'm going to stay here. Elsa will want you to be with her, but I'll just be in the way."

"But Elsa will want to thank you."

"Elsa has thanked me enough," he said firmly. "Go find her. I'll see you after the address."

Kristoff did feel a twinge of guilt at the slight look of loss on Anna's face, but he had made up his mind: if he went inside, Anna would insist he came up with them to the balcony and Elsa, unable to deny her sister anything after the past few days, would not say no. He'd have to stand up there, in front of all these people, looking as if he was a big part of this story. No doubt he'd be introduced, too.

The three different kinds of spoons from dinner last mind rose vividly to his mind.

"See you in a bit?"

The impulse to hug her, to pull her into his arms, was overwhelming. She looked so worried.

He cleared his throat. "See you in a bit."

Anna slipped away through the front doors. Once inside, she glanced around – where would Elsa be?

Up the stairs, down two corridors – sure enough, her sister stood muttering and pacing up and down behind the balcony doors. Her dress was immaculate and there was not a hair out of place on her head. Anna self-consciously brushed reindeer hair and a few pieces of stable straw off her own skirt.

"Elsa?"

The queen looked up. "Anna."

"Elsa, if you're muttering the word 'conceal' to yourself, I swear – I will – I'm going to –"

"Stutter at me?" Elsa grinned. "Come here."

Anna came towards her and took her hand, squeezing it gently. "You ok?"

"No. But I'm ready." She exhaled. "No Kristoff?"

"He wanted to stay outside and watch. He said he's be in the way up here."

Elsa frowned very slightly; Anna didn't see.

"Your majesty?" It was Kai. "It's almost eleven."

"Thank you Kai. I'm ready."

Kai bowed. Without further ado, he pulled the balcony doors open and stepped into the sunshine.

"Queen Elsa, of Arendelle. Princess Anna, of Arendelle."

Anna wouldn't let Elsa drop her hand as they walked into the lion's den.

\--

"People of Arendelle."

From this distance, Kristoff thought, it was almost impossible to tell that Elsa was shaking like a leaf. Her face hardly betrayed a shadow of the fear she'd confessed over dinner.

"Thank you for coming out to see me today – and in such numbers."

Beside her, Anna squeezed her hand again. Kai handed the queen the roll of paper that held the scribbles and scrawls of her speech.

"I speak to you today to offer both an explanation for the events since my coronation and a sincere apology. It was not until I returned to Arendelle two days ago that I saw the extent of the damage I had caused."

She took a breath. Focused on the warmth of Anna's little hand in hers. It drove back the icy fractals spreading through her veins.

"I can only pray that you hear me today and understand I never meant to hurt anyone – I never meant to curse this beautiful kingdom with an unnatural winter."

The crowd was silent. Kristoff could have sworn that in that moment, no-one dared breathe.

"Since I was a child, I have fought to control the power I possess – the power to control snow and ice. For years, you questioned the closure of the gates – and it is today I must tell you that it was because of me. Upon discovering the extent of my power, my father, King Agdar, felt it would be best for both the kingdom and our family to keep it a secret – at least until I had learnt to control my magic. This is why the gates were closed; this is why for years I did not make public appearances. Though he acted with our best interests at heart, I see now that the years of isolation did nothing but fuel the fear I felt and shut me off from my sister – the beautiful young woman to whom we owe the salvation of Arendelle. Princess Anna."

Anna looked at her sister in surprise and alarm. Kristoff, lost somewhere in the middle of the now-muttering crowd, could not help but smile.

"Princess Anna did not for a second give up on me – not even when, on the night of my coronation, I lost control and plunged you all into the winter which has cursed the past few days. It was Princess Anna who followed me into the mountains, brought me home, and showed me the way to reverse my magic – and thaw Arendelle."

Slowly – so slowly – a ripple of applause began.

The ripple became a flow, the flow a surge and finally, joyfully, a storm of applause broke through the courtyard. Elsa turned to her sister and bowed. The applause of the courtyard grew louder, joined now with cheers and cries of elation.

Kristoff clapped harder than anyone.

Anna turned bright red under her freckles and didn't know what to do with herself. She had not been expecting _this._

Looking at Elsa, Kai and then finally the undulating crowd before her, she waved to their people with an inelegant happiness that a princess shouldn't have – but somehow, did nothing but bring out the irrepressible and infectious life she exuded every day.

After a minute or so, Elsa quietened the roar with a raised hand. She took a moment and continued.

"My father did not live see the day I learnt to control my powers. I must confess that for a long time, I did not believe that day would ever come. But I now see that I was wrong – for that day is today. I truly believe, now, that with my sister at my side, I can control the magic that is as much a part of me as this voice with which I speak to you. I believe that, together, we can build a future for Arendelle that is peaceful, prosperous. The gates to Arendelle will never close again."

Elsa paused for a moment. She looked at the faces of the people below her that were so individual, and yet all one in their silent expectation.

"That is, if you – my people – will let me. Arendelle is yours as much as it is mine, and I will not subject you to the sovereignty of a queen you fear. You – _you_ , the _people_ of Arendelle – deserve a monarch that you can trust and, I would hope, love.

"If you wish for me to step down from the throne, abdicate and pass the orb and sceptre to my sister, I shall do so without hesitation – and without resentment. You need not fear retribution of ice and snow."

Anna stepped forward, as if to say something – but Elsa placed a hand on her arm. This speech had been planned, point by point, and she would not have its rhythm broken.

"But if you will have me, Arendelle – if you can find it in your hearts to forgive me – I would be honoured to serve as your queen, though it is an honour I do not deserve. If you will have me, Arendelle, I will rule this kingdom with all the grace and wisdom I possess. If you will have me, Arendelle, I will defend this land to my dying breath. If you will have me, Arendelle, I will, unceasingly, strive to be the queen you deserve."

With that, she bowed her head to the crowd and left the balcony.

Impetuously, Anna rushed forward. "People of Arendelle. I just have a few more things to say. I'm never going to make a speech as good as that, but I just wanted to say – I know that Elsa will be the greatest queen Arendelle has ever seen. And I think you should take this chance. I don't want to lose my sister again – and I don't think you want to lose your queen."

She was leant with both hands on the balustrade, leaning over with emphatic passion to be as close to the people below as she could.

"That's all I have to say really – but – thank you. For coming to listen to us."

She bobbed into an awkward little curtsey and hurried after her sister.

The balcony doors swung shut; the roar of a hundred discussions suddenly swelled from the crowd.


	8. Expectations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, thanks for keeping up with this story!
> 
> This chapter covers response to Elsa's speech (which really I hope manages to tread the fine line between niceness and cheesiness. I reworked it a few times and I think it's there- but please let me know if I've missed the mark and it's too much!), features a rare moment of self-awareness from Anna, and also starts to deal with those pesky dignitaries and what on earth they've been doing.

At the bang of the doors, Elsa brought her hands to her face and collapsed against the wall.

"That was amazing, Elsa! You were amazing!"

Elsa shook her head and said nothing, hands still covering her face.

"I mean it. You were great. I honestly don't know how that could have gone better."

Elsa did not peer through her fingers to her sister until she felt the warm touch of hands on each arm.

"And it's done now. Don't worry about it." Anna hesitated; smiled. "Do you want to build a snowman?"

After a pause, Elsa slowly nodded.

They walked down the corridors in reflective quiet – for once, Anna understood that actions were louder than words. Elsa was reliving every moment of the speech in her head – unravelling, unpicking, analysing.

The gallery, lined with the paintings that had been Anna's conversational partners for years, ended in a single large window. It had a view of the castle's private garden – light could stream in around them, but no prying eyes would disturb their quietude. Anna could not think of a more perfect place to await the verdict.

She knelt on the floor. Elsa followed suit, and with a flutter of fingers, it was snowing.

Anna gathered in her arms the snow for a body, scooping and patting and rolling it together; Elsa rounded each edge with a gentle brush of her magic. Anna lay back, made a snow angel; Elsa drew a tiny circular halo for it. Anna leaned out the window and grabbed some twigs and stones; Elsa carefully arranged them into eyes on the snowman's empty face.

"We don't have any carrots," Anna sighed. "Do you think Olaf will mind if his snow-lady doesn't have a nose?"

"Snow-lady? I think one enchanted snowman is _definitely_ more than enough for now."

They knelt, admiring their creation. Elsa absent-mindedly removed some rogue leaves that had found their way into Anna's hair when she'd leant out the window.

That's when they heard it. The chanting.

Elsa suddenly clutched her sister, terrified.

"What are they saying?"

"I don't know."

Anxious, Anna went to throw open the window once more. She leant out and strained to hear the words.

Ice started spreading beyond their little patch of snow and crackled up the walls. Elsa hugged her arms around herself.

The open window let in a little more sound – but it was still indistinct. Anna and Elsa made eye contact, mutually uneasy.

Suddenly, the door burst open. It was Kristoff.

He was breathing heavily, as if he'd been running. His eyes were wide, but his mouth was open in a grin.

"Do you hear them?"

And as if obeying an unspoken command, the chant grew louder and louder, more voices joining the unwavering mantra.

"Long live Queen Elsa! Long Live Queen Elsa!"

The ice on the walls seeped back down as Anna ran to her sister, pulled her to her feet and seized her in the tightest hug. They stood in each other's arms, swaying on the spot for a second. Arm in arm, they left the room and walked back towards the balcony.

Kristoff smiled. He took a carrot from his pocket and walked over to give the snowman a nose.

\--

From the balcony the sisters smiled and waved and thanked the still-cheering people. Anna couldn't help but bounce up and down, crying her thanks over and over again; Elsa was more contained, fighting down tears of relief but holding her sister tight, and with the posture and poise Anna had never mastered thanked the people sincerely. She urged them to come to the castle if they had suffered any loss of property or livelihood – she would hear their grievances and ensure all were fairly compensated.

As they left, Anna still waving, Elsa suggested they take stock in a nearby parlour room.

"I just can't believe, I mean, I _hoped_ and _dreamed_ , but I never planned, or –"

Anna fell onto the sofa, giddy with relief. She was speaking in a near-continuous stream of sounds and words, the mind-to-mouth filter utterly gone. In this snatched ten minutes of happiness, so new and strange but so familiar, Elsa laughed more than she had ever thought possible.

Eventually, however, the yoke of reality settled back upon her.

"Anna, I have a lot to sort out."

"Like what?"

Elsa sighed, lists beginning to form and flick through her mind. "I need to draw up commissions for the repairs to Arendelle – the west wing was almost completely destroyed by the storm, as was a large part of the dungeon. I haven't heard word of any damage to the town, but as I said to the people, I need to be sure of this. I know most of the dignitaries who came to the coronation left as soon as the ice melted, but Kai informed me some remained – for answers I suppose. They will have been at the address today, but I must see them personally. I know the French Ambassador, for one, remained behind. And I must write letters to those who have already left, to explain and apologise."

Anna hadn't even thought of the dignitaries since the day of the Coronation. All had been offered accommodation at the castle following the ball, of course, but when she had shown Kristoff to his room last night, she'd seen no-one. Could she have missed them in the vast halls of the castle?

"Are there any – still here…?"

"Oh, no. Very few remain. Kai provided me with a list – it seems that though many sheltered in the castle during the storm, most left as soon as the fjord thawed. And who can blame them? Those who have remained opted to stay in the sleeping quarters on their ships. It would take a very trusting Ambassador to stay under the same roof as a sorcerer, after all."

Anna was dismayed. "I hadn't even thought about it. We should have invited them to dinner."

Elsa shook her head. "It would have been foolish to see anyone before the address. Everything needed to be made clear to everyone at the same time – else, we could have been accused of conspiracy, covert alliances…" Elsa shook her head. "It would have been a nightmare."

"Wow. You know your stuff so well, Elsa." It was Anna's turn to shake her head. The weight of Elsa's responsibilities truly struck her. "Thank God I'm the youngest! Can you imagine me trying to organise all of this?"

Elsa smiled a little. "You would have done fine, Anna. You had the same education as me."

This was true, but Anna was stunned when she realised how little she must have… taken in. Thought about things. It just hadn't seemed important at the time. She remembered her lessons on history, literature, and music well enough – but things like arithmetic and rhetoric and ruling had completely failed to hold her attention.

 _"I don't need to know about inflation of corn prices,"_ She remembered complaining. "Elsa _is going to be queen!"_

Elsa was the heir. Anna had always been the spare – an understudy, of sorts. She felt suddenly very guilty for playing this part so poorly – but was also overcome with a surge of affection for her parents for not giving up hope Elsa would one day rule. They must have never doubted that, to have maintained her political education so diligently.

Anna was brought back to the present by Elsa's voice.

"…But we must send ambassadors of our own, bearing the letters of apology to countries whose dignitaries who have left – else we risk all our diplomatic relationships. And besides that, there is Hans to deal with. And Kristoff's sled."

"Well." said Anna, very, very humbled. "That's certainly a lot of things. Can I – help with anything at all? I can deal with the sled."

Elsa smiled, but shook her head. "You don't have to, Anna. Go enjoy the sun. I'll see you for dinner."

"If I get bored of the sun, can I come back and see you? I'll provide moral support."

Elsa smiled; nodded. "Of course you can."

With a kiss to her sister's forehead, Anna left the room.

Without really thinking, she found herself wandering towards the stables.

She hadn't seen Kristoff since they'd returned to the balcony. She'd become so caught up in everything, that she'd sort of forgot to check where he was going. They'd spent so much time together over the past few days, it felt strange to find him… well, not constantly beside her.

She rounded the corner of the stables and stopped.

Neither Kristoff nor Sven was there.

She wheeled around in mild panic.

"Jakob? Jakob?"

"My lady?" The shiny bald head of the stablemaster poked itself round the side of a stall. Jakob could always be found around the stables, either shouting at stablehands, grooming the horses or checking supplies and stock in his office. Today – thankfully – was no exception. "Is everything all right, my lady?"

"Jakob, there was a reindeer, here," She waved a hand at the stall she'd already come to think of as Sven's. "Do you know where he's gone?"

"Yes, my lady, the young man came by about twenty minutes ago to collect him."

"Collect him?"

"Yes, my lady."

"Oh. Ok, thank you, Jakob."

Dejected, she walked back to the castle. The tools they'd bought were still there – and besides, he wouldn't leave without saying goodbye. He didn't even have his sled yet. He'd probably just… gone for a walk or something.

Anna suddenly felt very annoyed at herself.

 _He's not a pet._ It was wrong – totally wrong – to assume Kristoff would just be hanging around, waiting for her. He had his own life.

 _His own life._ She hadn't really thought about that. The last few days had been so emotional and all-consuming that there hadn't been much time for the practicalities. She remembered how she hadn't even known where Kristoff lived, or how he took his tea. She didn't even know his last name.

_What's his favourite food? Best friend's name? Eye colour? Foot size?_

_Brown._ Kristoff's eyes were brown. Obviously.

Anna shook her head and made a noise of disparagement.

She knew she had a habit of becoming familiar – perhaps too familiar – with people very quickly. Hans was proof of that. And though she might feel she knew Kristoff, the truth was that she was still learning new things about him. He was often unexpected, and confusing, and – it was arrogant of her to assume he would just hang around, being a support through all of her and Elsa's drama.

 _Don't you ever learn?_ Anna thought, irritably. _God, everything isn't a fairytale._

Hans had made it abundantly clear to her that you couldn't always label things. People didn't always fit into neat categories – Elsa, for example. As much as she wanted to tell herself that everything was perfect now, that they were best friends – things were more complicated than that.

And _Kristoff_ – jeez, Kristoff certainly didn't fit under a label.

Anna found herself in the library. A part of her wanted to go running back to Elsa – but she knew Elsa was busy. And – as she'd just realised – things were complicated.

She ran her fingers along the spines of satires, poetry, classics and histories – and eventually chose one called _Frankenstein_. It looked interesting, and it was not a romance – there were hardly any romantic works in this library she hadn't read, and they were the last thing she wanted to revisit right now. She wandered to the garden outside the portrait gallery and sat in the sun for a while, losing herself in a different world.


	9. A Family Affair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As ever, thank you so much for keeping up with the story!
> 
> Following feedback from DaughterNumberTwo and CrunchDeNumbers (on FF), there are a couple of things I'll be tweaking and changing in the previous chapters - specifically some dialogue and Anna's knowledge of the layout of the town.
> 
> As ever, feedback = love.

Kristoff thought it best to give Elsa and Anna some time, so wandered away to fetch Sven and take a trip into town. He had vague plans of getting a new lute, or maybe going to see his family – Grandpabbie always seemed to somehow know what was going on in every place at every given time anyway, but it would be nice to go back and see them; he and Anna had left in a rush, and there'd been no time to talk properly.

He had no doubts about how busy Elsa would be now. He idly wondered if there was any chance the acquisition of his sled would be postponed for a while – an excuse to stay – when, just before he left the castle courtyard, he passed a small party of guards that caught his attention.

" – understand Prince Hans is not to be prosecuted until his return to the Southern Isles –"

Kristoff stopped, shocked.

"It is the express wish of Queen Elsa that no harm is to come to the Prince. The current rotation of guards will remain in place until further orders are received. Dismissed."

With a swift salute, the uniform lines of guards broke into more disparate groups, some heading back to the castle, others in the direction of the barracks and others yet towards the gates.

Kristoff exchanged a glance with Sven before stopping one of the guards.

"Sorry – I couldn't help but overhear. What exactly has the Queen said will happen to Hans?"

The guard appraised him. A few others heading in the same direction had also stopped.

"Who are you sir, that asks?"

Kristoff cleared his throat and drew back his shoulders slightly. "I am a guest of Princess Anna, at the castle."

The guard nodded, but began to reply, "I am sorry sir, but I'm not at liberty to discuss prisoners –" Another of the guards that had stopped interrupted.

"I know you. You're one of the fellas that deliver ice."

"Yes."

"And you're a guest of Princess Anna?"

Kristoff suddenly felt himself tense. "Yes."

Some of the guards had started to exchange looks of amusement.

Sven rumbled and pawed the ground angrily. Kristoff shushed him and put a hand on his side.

"Not now, Sven."

This only brought further smirks from the guards.

"Now, if you don't mind, we'll be going. I'm sure you can ask the _Princess_ about Prince Hans when you're having _afternoon tea_ with her later."

"I _am_ a guest –"

But they were already turning away, several breaking out into laughter.

" – sure he's never drunk tea in his life –"

" – _ice deliverer_ as a guest – yeah, keep dreaming –"

" – some people –"

Every muscle in his body was tense, hands curled into fists. Never, never had he been made to feel ashamed of who he was before –

Kristoff was rooted to the spot for a moment, watching the backs of the retreating guards. Then, through gritted teeth – "Come on, Sven."

Sven snorted in approval, and as Kristoff heaved himself up onto the reindeer's back, they burst through the gates and took off towards the mountains.

\--

It was just gone noon when they arrived in the Rock Troll's clearing.

They had galloped, furious and frenzied, until the castle of Arendelle was small enough to hold between finger and thumb. Then the pace had slackened and Kristoff had slipped off Sven's back. In silence, they had trudged the rest of the familiar route to the one place Kristoff had ever been able to call home.

The Trolls were awake when they arrived – pottering around, collecting food, gathered in groups of raucous conversation.

They turned at Kristoff's approach though.

_"Kristoff's home!!"_

They rolled over, and Kristoff could not help but smile, just a little, at their enthusiasm.

"Hey!"

Tiny Trolls were pulling at his trouser legs, all babbling at once; his adoptive mother, Bulda, balancing atop a tower of cousins and aunts, inspecting his hair, ears, eyes, sighing and tutting as usual; Grandpabbie nodding sagely from his place by the cooking pot; his favourite aunt merrily waving and bouncing up and down, saying something he couldn't make out –

"Ok, ok," Kristoff was fully grinning now. "Let me breathe."

"These are new clothes!" His mother exclaimed. "Very nice, too, where did you get these from, Kristoff? I've got some fresh ones all washed for you, but these are lovely –"

"Anna got them for me," He admitted, a little sheepishly. "Because my sled –"

"Anna, that lovely girl you brought back?"

"With the plaits?"

"And the white hair?"

"I liked her Kristoff!"

Kristoff's youngest brother leapt up surprisingly high for such a heavy little fella – Kristoff held him under the arms and grinned. "You liked her, huh?"

"Yeah, she was pretty, and I liked her snowman –"

"But come sit down, Kristoff, we'll get you some lunch –"

"Every time I see you, you've lost weight, I've always said, they don't feed you well on those ice fields –"

Kristoff was steered towards the great cooking pot and before he could say a thing he was crossed-legged on the mossy ground and wooden bowl had been pushed into his hands, brimming with a thick vegetable stew.

He inhaled deeply and smiled. This was where he belonged.

Glancing over to see Sven down on his haunches, braying with laughter as the littlest Trolls giggled and crawled all over him, Kristoff brought the bowl to his lips and took a gulp.

Grandpabbie smiled wisely at him. "It is good to have you home Kristoff. I see Elsa is queen again and Arendelle has been thawed. Though you are not so sure of your place in all of this."

Kristoff had long ago learned not to question Grandpabbie's apparent omniscience. "Yeah. Elsa gave a speech and the people accepted her again."

Grandpabbie inclined his head. "As we knew they would."

Kristoff could not help but feel faint annoyance at this. "Why didn't you tell Anna that? It would have saved her a lot of stress, believe me."

Grandpabbie shook his head. "You know our prophecies cannot be shared too liberally, Kristoff."

"I hear about most of the prophecies." He grumbled.

"But Kristoff, you are _family_ ," said three different voices. Bulda smiled at him. "That is different."

Kristoff sighed.

"Now, when are you bringing that nice young lady to see us again? We should invite her to dinner!"

"After last time? You'll be lucky if I bring her here ever again."

Bulda looked dismayed.

"Not without agreeing some ground rules first, at least." Kristoff's smile faded as he remembered the guards from that morning. "I'm not sure if she'll want to come back again, though."

"Oh, Kristoff, any girl would be lucky to have you!" said two Trolls at once, helping themselves to more stew.

"She's just been having a rough time recently, Kristoff," his aunt spoke this time. "Grandpabbie has been telling us all about the conduct of the young Prince Hans."

Angry mutterings rose from the Trolls at this.

Kristoff drank some more stew. "I know. But – she's a princess. I collect ice."

It felt good to finally get that off his chest, though his heart couldn't help but sink. Saying it aloud seemed to make the reality of it so much more tangible.

"And where would Arendelle be without ice?"

"Without a ruler!"

"And without fresh water!"

Kristoff shrugged non-committally. "Even if Anna doesn't see it that way. Other people will."

"Well, what will be will be." sang a few Trolls.

Kristoff couldn't help but roll his eyes at this – earning him a cuff round the ear from his mother – and the conversation turned to the best mushrooms to use in stew, recent ominous cloud formations, and the naming of Olga's new twins.

\--

Elsa appraised the dignitaries before her. There were six – the French Ambassador, the Duke of Garbon, The Irish dignitary, the Duke of Pennslyn, the German Ambassador and the Danish consort. The Duke of Weselton – the only other representative to remain behind – had not been asked to join them.

"Thank you for seeing us, your highness."

There were murmurs of assent.

Elsa shook her head. "The thanks is mine to give. Your fellow guests left as soon as the fjord was thawed – you alone stayed to hear my story. For that, I must thank you." She bowed her head graciously.

"We 'eard your address zis morning, your majesty – and must commend your 'onesty and compassion for your people. It was a bold move, to place your reign in zeir 'ands, and one I believe will serve you well in years to come."

More murmurs of assent.

"I thank you. It was the least I could do. Now," Elsa leant forward, and she couldn't help but notice that a few of the men before her flinched slightly. She forced herself to ignore this. "My coronation was supposed to be an opportunity for us to renew and ratify the diplomatic partnerships and steady trade that our Kingdoms enjoyed under my father's reign. That is still my wish."

A few of the diplomats looked at each other, and then to the French Ambassador who seemed to be something of a ringleader. "Your majesty, zat bringz me ze most inexpressible comfort, for eet it is our wish also."

Elsa exhaled imperceptibly. _They would hardly go against a sorcerer, would they?_

"I am most glad to hear it. If you are amenable, I would put this down in writing – a formal renewal of our treaties. I do not want the discovery of my – abilities – to in any way affect our relationships."

There were nods – only the Duke of Pennslyn seemed unsure.

"Is there a problem, my lord?"

He hesitated.

"Your highness, I am not sure how we can overlook the issue of your abilities," he began. "Whilst I understand your desire for _normalcy_ , I must think of my people. I have no doubt of the truth of your words this morning, but I must ask – will the nature and quality of your produce remain the same?" He seemed very anxious. "Will there be any need to renegotiate items of trade – or value of goods?"

Elsa fixed him with a quizzical look. "I'm not sure I comprehend your meaning, my lord."

The Duke twisted his fingers together. "Will the ice – have affected your kingdom's ability to cultivate goods? Or the value of those goods?"

Elsa was surprised. "No, I do not believe so. Having frozen my fair share of effects in my twenty-one years, sir, I cannot say I have ever had a problem with – contamination, if that is what you are implying?"

He seemed relived at this. "We have your word?"

"My solemn word."

"Then I have no objection to the renewal of all trade and peace treaties. Your father was our good ally in his time, God rest his soul, your majesty."

Elsa bowed her head in gracious acknowledgement.

The documents were drawn up, and it was as they were being signed that the Irish dignitary brought up the Duke of Weselton's absence.

"During my time in the mountains," Elsa said shortly, "The Duke of Weselton's personal guard made an attempt on my life. Ironically, it was only the intervention Prince Hans of the Southern Isles which saved me."

The paper found its way to Elsa and she signed without hesitation in a neat, flowing script.

"Needless to say, Arendelle will not be allied diplomatically or commercially with nations whose representatives cannot restrain themselves from assassination attempts."

There were smiles at this. Elsa's dry tone, only previously glimpsed by those who had spoken to her at the Coronation Ball, went down well.


	10. Compensation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realised that Olaf had disappeared - so in this chapter he's back, with an explanation for his absence and everything. We also address the issue of Anna's excessively fair skin, and the inevitable casualties of an unexpected magical snowstorm.

Anna shut _Frankenstein_ with a snap. It was a good story so far, but the main character reminded her forcefully of Hans, and that was _not_ ok.

The sun had traced its stately way across the sky, and engrossed in the book, Anna had failed to notice the slight redness creeping like a blush across her arms and shoulders.

"Oops."

She retreated inside in search of Gerda and her sunburn remedy, book still dangling from her hand, and had just reached the first floor landing when something out the window caught her eye.

Sunburn forgotten, she turned on her heel and hurried straight back down the stairs, across the entrance hall and out into the courtyard.

She turned the corner to the stables.

"Hey!"

Kristoff, who had literally just finished pouring a bucket of water for Sven, turned around. His hair was messy and his face a little flushed from exercise, but Anna thought he looked wonderful.

"I missed you this afternoon. Where'd you go?"

"Hey yourself. Trolls." He waved a hand in the rough direction of the mountains.

"Oh. Of course. I was sort of worried you'd gone without saying goodbye for a moment!" She laughed as breezily as possible. "Um. How are they?"

Kristoff shrugged. "You know. Loud."

He caught sight of the redness of her skin and frowned. "Are you ok? You look kind of sunburnt."

Anna grimaced. "Yeah. I've been reading. I sort of lost track of time. And sun."

Kristoff shook his head. "We need to put something on that." He began rummaging through the pile of things they'd bought from _Claude's Climbing Supplies_ the previous day.

"Oh, no, it's fine – it's not that bad, and Gerda's probably got something for it inside – "

"It's ok," Kristoff said, extracting a small bottle from the bag. "Your shoulders are going to start peeling unless you get something on that soon."

Anna looked a little humbled and Kristoff came over, shaking the bottle.

"I didn't think they'd do sunbalm in a climbing shop."

"Of course they do," he replied, lifting up Anna's hand and squeezing some of the bottle's contents into her palm. "Sunburn is one of the worst things on the mountains. The snow reflects the sun like crazy."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Now rub that in."

Anna did so. It had a slightly strange smell – not the floral top-notes of her usual product. She was on the verge of asking him what it was – but decided it might be better not to know.

"What've you been reading?"

" _Frankenstein_." She waved the book around. Kristoff took it so she could rub the balm into her other arm. "Elsa's got about a million and one things to do, so I thought I'd get out of her way. It's about a scientist. And his _creation_."

Kristoff raised his eyebrows. "Huh. I would have thought you were more of a romance girl."

Anna blushed – though it was impossible to tell against the sunburn. "You'd be right. I thought it would probably be best to take a bit of a break from the romances, though. Ground myself a little." She grinned, embarrassed.

Kristoff shook his head, looking over the little book. "Nah. I think you're perfect as you are."

Suddenly realising what he'd said, he went as red as her. "I mean, everyone does. You're the princess."

Anna laughed and brushed off the compliment. "Ahh. You know. I try. Is the back of my neck red?"

She twisted round so he could see.

"Uh. No. You're ok. You've missed some on your face though."

Anna went crossed-eye trying to see.

He laughed, and was about to rub it in for her – but caught himself. "It's uh – just the side of your nose. No – other side."

She got it, and smiled. She was all shiny with balm.

Taking the little bottle back, and handing her _Frankenstein_ , he went to put the bottle away in his bag.

"So you missed me, huh?" Kristoff he called over his shoulder, looking a little smug.

Anna nodded. "Of course. You're my guest! You'll stay at the castle again tonight, right?"

Kristoff was about to reply when the guards from that morning rose to mind.

"What?"

"Nothing. Sure, if you're offering. Feather beds."

"Of course I am. What's up?"

Kristoff shook his head, but Sven nudged his arm and stamped a hoof.

He looked at the reindeer in annoyance. "What?"

Sven gave him a look.

" _What,_ Sven?"

Sven nudged him again and Kristoff glared.

" Sometimes I really don't like you."

Sven seemed satisfied and returned to lapping from his bucket of water.

Anna watched this exchange with a little half-smile, confused but intrigued.

"What did he say?"

"Oh. He, uh – this morning, we –" Kristoff cleared his throat and glanced around. There was nobody in sight. Anna huffed and sat down on the nearest hay bale.

"What's up?"

Kristoff shifted uncomfortably and rubbed the back of his neck. He wanted to sit, but there was only one bale.

"I'm not really sure that me staying here is going to work, Anna."

She looked distressed. "What do you mean?"

Kristoff felt awful – but he'd wanted to talk, right?

He heaved a sigh.

"After the address this morning, I went into town – to give you and Elsa some space. I got talking to some guards, and they asked who I was – I said I was your guest, but one of them recognised me –" He couldn't meet her eye and couldn't stop fidgeting. "They, uh – listen, Anna. I'm just an ice harvester." He paused. "Maybe they're right. I don't belong here, at the castle."

Anna's face had hardened. "What did they say?"

"It – well –"

"Kristoff, what?"

He sighed. "They didn't believe an _ice harvester_ could be your guest. And I know, it isn't that– but –"

"Who were these guards?"

"It doesn't matter, the point is –"

"It _does_ matter. How could they be so rude? Yes, you're an ice harvester, but what does that matter? We need ice as much as we need protection, or wood, or – everything else!"

Kristoff shook his head. "Anna, the last few days have been… this is all new to me." He shuffled uncomfortably. "I don't fit in here, Anna. I belong in the mountains. You... I think the sooner I get my sled and get out of here, the better."

Anna had gone very quiet. She was looking down at her hands. "Do you _want_ to leave?"

He hesitated. "Well, no, but –"

"Then why do you have to go?"

Kristoff was confused. "I just said –"

"You said you belong in the mountains. But can't people belong in more than one place?"

Kristoff was about to reply, but paused, considering.

"Take me for example. I belong in Arendelle. But I also belong wherever Elsa is. That's why I went to the North Mountain. And – I thought I belonged with Hans, but I was wrong."

Slowly, Kristoff nodded. "I see what you mean, Anna, but –"

"But what?"

He bit his lip. "I don't think everyone feels like that. The guards this morning didn't feel like that."

"Pfft," Anna flapped a hand and shrugged. "What do they know? They don't know you at all. Personally," she smiled at him. "I think you fit in here perfectly."

Kristoff shook his head again. "At dinner last night – there were so many…" he'd gone bright red again. "It's kind of unusual for me to eat with _one_ fork, let alone four different –"

Anna looked at him curiously.

"Forks?"

"And spoons. There were too many spoons."

Anna nodded, lost in thought. "Well, don't worry about that. I've never really got _why_ there are so many anyway."

Kristoff sighed. Anna stood up.

"Please stay, Kristoff. Just for a few more days. I had no idea you felt like this." Anna shook her head and sighed in mock-exasperation before seeming to be caught up in a train of thought.

"What?"

"Oh – nothing. Come with me."

 

\--

 

Elsa rubbed her eyes.

"Send in the next one, Kai."

She had already heard about shattered windows, frozen crops and traumatised livestock that afternoon, and had dished out thousands from the royal treasury – but it was worth it, she reassured herself. And it was the least she could do. Apologies could only go so far – actions were what determined rulers, she remembered her father saying. Actions, not words.

In the corner, and very quiet for once, was Olaf. Elsa had sternly told him he could only stay if he promised to be quiet. He'd been delivered, disgraced, to her office shortly after the dignitaries had left – apparently, he'd been enthralled by his trip to the kitchen the evening before, and had been keeping himself very busy there ever since. Too busy.

Olaf insisted he'd just been trying to be helpful, but when the kitchen staff had found him trying on different carrots, it was the last straw. Their patience only extended so far.

So now he was following Elsa around and trying his best to be helpful elsewhere.

Elsa shot him a stern look as Kai brought in a small, pale woman who curtsied low.

"Your majesty."

Elsa inclined her head. "Please approach. What is your name?"

"Martha, your majesty."

"Martha. What grievance do you have for me?"

"Your majesty –" the woman was twisting her hands together and seemed too scared to look at the queen. "Your majesty, my grievance is not one of livelihood or property."

Elsa was puzzled; frowned. "How can I help you? Do not be afraid."

"Your majesty – the cold is always harsher on some more than others. The very young, the old, the sick…"

Elsa felt her stomach plummet.

"My great-aunt, your majesty – she went peacefully, but when she passed, she was cold as ice…"

Elsa felt a little dizzy. For a moment, she didn't know what to say.

"Martha – I am so sorry – " composure cracking, Elsa fought back tendrils of frost snaking their way towards her fingertips.

She wished Anna were here.

Taking a deep breath, Elsa reminded herself: _love will thaw_.

"Martha. There is nothing I can do to ease your grief. I know well enough that no amount of money can even begin to repair the damage I have done to your family."

Elsa sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose briefly.

"But if I may, I would pay for the funeral and all associated costs. It is… a poor attempt to convey the depths of my sincere regret, but it is at least a start."

After a moment's hesitation, Elsa rose from her throne and went to the woman. She folded her hand in one of her own.


	11. The Same Page

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sleds and Hans. Hans and sleds. Elsa gets seriously sassy.
> 
> 18/04- tweaked some of Olaf's dialogue, changed the date of the brochure (from 1823 to 1833), added in a bit more dialogue for the merchant regarding Cobbler Busters and made the name of Elsa's mysterious book Norwegian and not Swedish.

 

"Anna." Elsa strode towards her sister, who was in full-flow and dragging the ice harvester in the direction of the library. They both looked round at her voice.

Olaf bounded along behind her, waving. "Anna! Kristoff! Hi!"

"Hey Olaf!" Anna crouched down to say hello. "Where've you been?"

"In the kitchens," the little snowman replied, somewhat shamefacedly. "But I've been banished. Now I'm helping Elsa!"

Anna looked up at her sister with raised eyebrows. "Well, that sounds great. You doing ok?"

"I'm doing great."

"Good." Anna grinned at him and then straightened to speak to Elsa.

"Hi. I was going to come find you in a minute. How's it all going? Were the dignitaries ok?"

Elsa nodded. "Yes. Everything is fine." She frowned for a second. "What is that smell?"

"Oh – I got sunburnt." Anna grimaced. "Stupid really, I know I burn easily – but Kristoff gave me some balm stuff," She examined her arms. "And it feels so much better already! What's _in_ it?" She turned back to Kristoff, arms still outstretched like a ballerina.

"Oh – you know. Mountain stuff." He said very vaguely.

Elsa decided she'd rather not know, and continued to answer her sister's question. "The dignitaries will be staying in the guest wing of the castle tonight, and joining us for dinner before leaving tomorrow. The letters are all written, and I've heard the grievances of Arendelle," she looked utterly worn out at this and Anna couldn't help but walk over and take her hand. "Only a few things left now. Can I speak to you a moment?" Her eyes flickered to Kristoff. "Alone?"

Anna opened her mouth to reply – _anything you have to say you can say to both of us_ – before her brain caught up. She closed her mouth and nodded.

"Sure. Could you give us a minute, Kristoff? If you want to go in, I'll be there in just a second. It's that room there." She pointed to a large pair of doors a little further down the hall. "Oh – could you put this back for me?" She held out _Frankenstein_.

He took the book and nodded, glancing only briefly between the two sisters before plodding over to the library doors and disappearing inside.

Anna turned back to Elsa and smiled. "What's up?"

"I've been looking into sleds."

Anna grinned. Beside them, Olaf was bouncing up and down in excitement.

"I've had Kai find a few quotes for me, and I was wondering if you or Kristoff would like to make the final decision."

"Ohh, yes!" Anna bounced up and down. "I'll do it. I'd like it to be a surprise for him."

Elsa nodded. "Now?"

"Now is good. Hang on."

She half-skipped down to the library door, Olaf waddling along behind her. She poked her head through.

"Kristoff?"

Elsa heard the rumble of his voice from inside the library.

"Do you mind if I just go with Elsa for a bit to sort something out? I'll be –" She'd looked back out to Elsa. "Twenty minutes?"

"About that."

"Anna stuck her head back inside. "Twenty minutes."

Another rumble.

"Only if you want to. Olaf can keep you company? Or the portrait gallery is just a floor up, or – can you find your way to the stables from here? Or I can just get a servant to bring you some tea here if you like? Or –"

Elsa heard a laugh, and then one final rumble of a response.

"Ok! See you in a bit!" Anna retracted her head and turned to the little snowman. "Olaf, can you stay here for me and keep Kristoff company?"

"Sure!"

"Not a word about the _you-know-what_."

He nodded solemnly. She thanked him, and skipped back over to Elsa. "Ready!"

Taking her arm, Elsa led her down the hall. "All ok?"

"Yeah. I need to find someone to get him some tea though."

"He's a tea drinker?"

"He is," she grinned broadly. "Where's the sled stuff?"

"This way. Come on."

Just before they reached the doors to Elsa's office, Anna spied a servant.

"Emma? Could you ask the kitchen for a pot of tea for Kristoff? He's in the library. No milk or sugar or anything. Just plain tea."

The servant named Emma dipped into a curtsey. "Of course, m'lady. Anything else?"

"And some sandwiches."

"Of course, my lady." She hurried off.

Before Elsa could say a word, Anna jumped in: "I know dinner is in an hour and a half, but this is _afternoon tea_."

Elsa rolled her eyes and smiled.

Kai stood in the office with a tall, thin man that Anna didn't know, who, as they entered, bowed low and kissed her hand. Anna raised her eyebrows at Elsa and made a small 'o' with her mouth.

Elsa held back a laugh as the man wrinkled his nose very slightly, presumably at the smell of that sunbalm.

"Your ladyship. Your majesty." He swept over and kissed Elsa's hand too, though she could not have been gone more than five minutes. "May I show you the sleds I have to offer?"

Anna fought back a giggle, and nodded.

Elsa seated herself at her desk. Anna perched on the arm of her sister's chair.

The tall man – a wealthy merchant, judging by his manner and clothes – laid a large, extravagantly decorated book before them on the desk. Anna just had time to see the cover – _Pleasurable Sledding: Summer 1833 –_ before the man flipped it open to reveal meticulously detailed illustrations as well as long lists of specifications and details.

"I had a copy of our latest brochure printed for your majesties as soon as I received word you were looking to purchase a sled. I would not wish your majesties to inconvenience yourselves by having to visit the workshops."

Anna pointed to one of the sketches. "I like this one. It has four seats!"

"Ah, your ladyship has excellent taste. This is from our sporting range. Built for speed and sophistication. Very popular with the younger gentlemen, these days."

"There's hardly any room for Kristoff's ice, Anna," Elsa pointed out. "And I'm sure that would be his priority."

"Hmm, good point," Anna poured over the other pictures, examining each one in turn. She pointed to another. "What's this one like?"

"Ah, this is one is made from the finest spruce wood this side of the western ice plains. Built for comfort and style, though if it is carrying capacity you are looking for, my lady, may I suggest this one?" The merchant flipped through the brochure and pointed a drawing of a very slim-looking sled, with sturdy runners and a curved nose.

"It doesn't look that big."

"It's width is deceptive, my lady. This is our longest sled, and can carry twice the weight as some of the lighter models."

"And what about this one?"

To her credit, Anna was meticulous, pressing the merchant for every detail about every sled he had to offer. Elsa waited patiently, occasionally exchanging a look with Kai.

Finally:

"A _cup holder_?" Anna was enthralled. She picked up the book. "Ooh, Elsa look at this one. It's got loads of room for ice, and a – tailgate, did you call it? – at the back that comes down, and a _cup holder_!" She looked back up at the man. "Does it come in any other colours?"

Only after Anna had considered and exhausted all the colours and patterns the merchant could offer, did she make a decision.

"Blue it is. With _that_ pattern," she pointed. "In white. But a kind of cream-white, you know?"

"Very well, my lady. An excellent choice! Would my lady be interested in optional Cobble Busters?"

Anna was confused.

"A simple mechanism, which allows the user to engage a wheel assembly for ease of travel on an unfrozen surface."

_"You mean it changes it changes into a cart?"_

"Of sorts, your ladyship. It streamlines the carriage of goods, as no change of vehicle or conveyance is necessary. My own, patented design."

"Absolutely!" Anna beamed. "That sounds great! I can't wait to see his face. This makes his old sled look like a… toboggan. Thank you!" She enthusiastically shook the merchant's hand, still grinning broadly. "It'll be ready tomorrow, you say?"

"Indeed, my lady. We have two of these with a blue base coat in stock – the pattern just needs to be applied."

"Amazing. Thank you!"

"A pleasure doing business with you, my lady." Gathering up his book, the merchant bowed low and kissed both Anna and Elsa's hands again. "I do hope the young gentleman enjoys his sled."

"That's the dream!"

Gold changed hands and the merchant left.

Anna turned and threw her arms around Elsa.

"Thank you, Elsa! He'll love it. I know he will." She beamed. "Thank you. Is there anything else I can help with?"

Elsa smiled and shook her head. She certainly did not want her little sister helping out with the final item on her list today. "No, thank you Anna. That's everything." She hesitated. "I know the ambassadors will be at dinner tonight – but of course, Kristoff is still welcome to attend, if he wants to."

Something in her sister's tone jogged Anna's memory.

"Elsa – I forgot to say. Distracted by sleds. Earlier – Kristoff told me – some guards basically told Kristoff he didn't belong here. They didn't believe he was our guest," Anna frowned. "I haven't spoken to Captain Lukas about it yet – I thought I should talk to you first – but obviously, it's totally not ok. How could people treat him like that?"

Elsa was surprised by her sister's rare foresight.

"Slow down, Anna. What happened?"

"The guards. Kristoff can be kind of cagey, so I don't exactly know what happened – but I got the gist. They basically figured an ice harvester couldn't be our guest. The way he was talking, they were pretty rude about it."

Anna wore an uncharacteristic expression of worry.

"I didn't even think. About how Kristoff would feel. Being here. Or how people would feel about _Kristoff._ Or..."

Elsa tried very hard not to sigh. Her sister really did live in a world of her own sometimes.

"I can't believe I was such an idiot. How could I not think? I mean, this is someone that I – God, I'm so –" Anna let out a noise of frustration and put her face in her hands. "I'm a terrible person."

"Anna." Elsa took her sister's hands and led her back to the desk. She sat her down and half-glanced at the still-hovering Kai. "First of all, you are not terrible person. Second of all, we need to have a talk. Could you leave us a moment, Kai?"

Without question, he bowed and left the room, discreetly shutting the door behind him. Elsa turned back to her sister and appraised her with an inscrutable eye.

"Buying all these things for Kristoff. It's not just about replacing what was lost with his sled, is it?"

"Um. No?"

Elsa sighed again and stood perfectly still, staring at the wall for a moment. She considered how to begin what she knew was an inevitable conversation.

"Um. Yes?"

"Anna, I like Kristoff. He's not royalty or nobility, but I like him. And I think – correct me if I'm wrong – he makes you happy. But I don't want you… rushing into anything. I understand that we owe him a lot, and I am more grateful than I can say. But I don't want this to cloud your judgement in any way, as I have tried not to let it cloud mine. He seems to be a good guy – but _you_ are my primary concern, Anna. Always."

Her sister's quiet glow at hearing this thawed any ice lurking in Elsa's veins.

Anna made a strange motion that looked like it was halfway between a vigorous nod and a vigorous shake of her head. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out at first. Finally:

"Elsa, he makes me so happy."

Elsa nodded. She had always been a good judge of character, and her sister and this ice harvester were so transparent in their emotions – but it was good to hear her thoughts confirmed.

"But no rash decisions?"

"No rash decisions. I promise."

Anna stuck out her little finger.

Grudgingly, Elsa's mouth twitched into a small smile and she curled her own little finger around Anna's in the unbreakable vow of a pinkie promise.

"In that case, I will speak to Captain Lukas. And we'll arrange some way to show the guards how valued a guest Kristoff is, without embarrassing him too much."

Anna grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, he embarrasses pretty easily. What…?"

Elsa smiled. "I'll get back to you on that. One thing at a time." She stretched. "Right. I've still got a few things to take care of, and you should go find that ice harvester. Can you send in Kai on your way out?"

Anna stood and left with that spring in her step.

When Kai entered, Elsa was sitting back at her desk, chin resting on interlaced fingers.

"Kai. Can you fetch me the _Lovene i Landet_? I think I have one more thing to do before visiting our prisoner."

"Of course, your majesty."

 

\--

 

As she descended the steps to Arendelle's dungeons, Elsa felt that it should have been dank, dark and chilly – but it wasn't. The enormous hole she had blown in the wall let in light, warmth, and a soft summer breeze. It was a bizarre juxtaposition, and Elsa didn't like it one bit.

Hans himself was locked in the cell furthest from the breach – but that had not stopped him loosening his cravat, taking off his jacket and resting with his hands behind his head, enjoying the trickles of sunlight playing into his cell.

Elsa scowled. He looked all too comfortable.

"Prince Hans."

He looked around and, seeing who it was, slowly got to his feet and bowed.

"Queen Elsa. No ice dress today, I see."

Elsa ignored this. "I have come to explain the situation to you."

"Explain the situation. In person? That is too kind of you."

Elsa ignored this too. "Due to your rank, and my desire to avoid causing further tension between Arendelle and its neighbouring kingdoms, I have made the decision to return you to The Southern Isles for prosecution. No charges of treason will be pressed against you in Arendelle."

Hans did a very good job at concealing his relief – Elsa caught only the slightest glimpse of it slip through his flawless composure.

"Your majesty. Thank you." He hesitated, then approached the bars of his cell. Elsa appraised him coldly. "Your majesty, your mercy makes me think I perhaps misjudged you. And for that, I must apologise."

He looked so sincere – blue eyes filled with something that looked like genuine regret. Elsa could see, for a moment, how her sister had been so totally and utterly taken in by him. Even with the swollen, puffy nose, there was a tragic handsomeness to his face, an inexpressible elegance in his movement, and here, behind bars, he looked for all the world like a martyr.

Elsa mentally shook herself.

"That's a great sentiment, Prince Hans, but forgive me for not throwing myself at your feet in gracious acceptance. Tomorrow, the French Ambassador will take you back to the Southern Isles, disgraced and in custody. Bearing a letter detailing your actions whilst here, he will deliver you to your father and brothers. Good day." She turned to leave.

"Your majesty, wait – " Elsa did not break stride – "will you not permit me to say a few words in my defence?"

"No," said Elsa shortly. "No, I will not."

She had almost reached the doors, when –

"Your majesty, please, about Anna – "

Elsa paused. She half-turned her head, but did not look at him. In a dangerously quiet voice:

"How dare you presume to speak my sister's name after what you have done to her. You are not worthy of my time, my energy, or even of the title 'prince'."

And she swept from the dungeon, closing the door with an echoing, concluding _bang_.

Hans swore. All traces of gratitude and decency drained from his face, leaving only an unhandsome snarl in their wake.


	12. The Mysteries of Women

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! So, today is a big update day.
> 
> Following feedback from a couple of readers, I've gone back through the story and made a fair few tweaks and additions to the narrative - most notably in chapters 3, 5 and 11.
> 
> 1\. In chapter 3, it's just a few bits explaining/changing Anna's knowledge of the town layout - as DaughterNumberTwo pointed out, First Time in Forever suggests Anna's experience of the outside world is pretty limited.
> 
> 2\. Chapter 5 is just a small added section about Elsa's response to Hans' attempt on her life.
> 
> 3\. Chapter 11 has changed the date to 1833, not 1823, added in a silly bit of added salesman schmooze about sleds (this will come up again in a few chapters time, so it might be worth a look - it's just after the bit about cup holders and colours).
> 
> 4\. All other chapter updates are just for grammar and small bits of dialogue.
> 
> Spoiler alert for today's chapter: it is 90% fluff.
> 
> We're almost at the end of this story now really - thank you so much to everyone reading this for your continued support and interest in this story. All the love. X

Kristoff stood outside Anna's room whilst she changed for dinner.

She'd looked very puzzled when he'd asked what was wrong with the clothes she was wearing.

There was no sound from inside, and she had been gone about ten minutes – how long did it take to change?

Very cautiously, Kristoff knocked.

"Anna?

"Yeah?" Her voice was slightly muffled by the door.

"You ok?"

"Yeah. Hang on!"

Kristoff shook his head. Women.

They'd dropped off Olaf with Sven ("Olaf, you can't come to dinner, you don't eat – and the dignitaries will be there – and they've had enough shocks over the past few days without a magical snowman making small talk over entrées,") before heading back to the castle in the dusky evening sun.

A few minutes later, Anna finally emerged. The smell of sunbalm had faded – or at least had been smothered by the floral perfume she was wearing – and her hair was twisted into a bun and she was wearing plunging red dress with a skirt so wide it barely fitted through the door – but it beautifully emphasised her little waist, and the red of the dress clashed magnificently with her hair, and almost matched her sunburnt shoulders, and the bun exposed the soft furrows at the nape of her neck, and –

Kristoff was getting carried away.

He cleared his throat.

"You look… great."

Anna deflected his comment with a wave of her hand. "Pfft, this old thing?" She grinned. "Thank you. Shall we go?"

She took his arm, and as they walked in the direction of the dining room, Kristoff tried very hard not to look down – he was painfully aware that his height and the way she was dangling off his arm gave him the perfect view down the front of that damn dress.

Mercifully, they arrived at the dining room before his willpower gave out.

Anna peeked through the door.

"Ok, so there are bunch of dignitaries in there – and I don't see Elsa yet – but stick with me, and you'll be fine." She smiled at him. "The food should be extra good if we have guests."

Kristoff nodded a little queasily. Anna had explained in the library what Elsa had said about the guards – though remained suspiciously vague about why Elsa had wanted to see her in the first place – and it had eased his anxiety somewhat.

_You can do this._

Anna seemed desperate for him to come to dinner – he'd been reluctant at first, because dignitaries – but it hurt him more than he cared to admit to see her so disappointed.

_"Ok, fine. If it means that much to you."_

_"It does!"_

What exactly did _that_ mean?

Kristoff shook his head. Women.

Anna took his hand and pushed open the door.

The dignitaries looked round and rose as one. They bowed.

"My lady."

Anna curtsied, and concealed by hem of her giant dress, gave Kristoff a meaningful nudge with her foot. He dropped into his funny bow.

"My lords and dignitaries. May I present my honoured guest Kristoff – "

Anna remembered she still didn't know his last name. She looked at him with wide eyes.

" – Bjorgman," he supplied, as reading her mind. "Kristoff Bjorgman."

As Anna made a mental note of this, the dignitaries murmured their greeting.

They walked over to the long table and took their seats, side-by-side. Anna noticed with a twinge of sadness that the ice-palace from last night was gone.

No sooner had the dignitaries all settled back down than Elsa walked in, swathed in a glittering – literally glittering – gown of pale, dusky orange. It was the colour of sun hitting ice, and Anna couldn't help but notice it was of a very similar style to the now infamous blue ice-gown.

Anna raised an eyebrow at her.

Elsa answered the unasked question with a small grin.

After yet more bows and greetings and formalities, they finally all sat and dinner was brought in: for a starter, bowls of steaming soup.

Anna caught Kristoff's eye and very deliberately picked up the outmost spoon.

He copied her and she smiled.

Conversation flowed politely across the table. Each man chattered to his immediate neighbours, and paid all expected compliments to the royal sisters. Topics ranged from gossip to crops to the latest literature – though everyone pointedly avoided discussing the weather.

At the head of the table, Elsa and the French ambassador were in deep conversation. Occasionally, Anna would catch her eye and they would share a small, reassuring smile.

"Your majesty, eef I may be so bold, would eet not be an idea to show ze people ze positif side to your abilities?"

Elsa looked quizzically at the ambassador.

"I meen – to show zem you 'ave truly learnt to control your powers. I was theenking, per'aps a celebration of sorts."

Elsa looked thoughtful.

After that day's revelations, Anna was making an incredibly conscious effort to be sensitive to Kristoff's discomfort; she made sure her animated conversation always included him, and was very deliberate in her choice of cutlery.

Under the table, she couldn't help but absent-mindedly lean her leg against his.

He tried very hard to ignore this, and that dress, and focus on what was happening _above_ the table.

As the main course was almost done, the French Ambassador said, "So, your majesty. What are ze exact arrangements for ze departure of Prince 'ans?"

He spoke to Elsa, but the whole table was listening. Anna had been halfway through explaining _Frankenstein_ to the Irish dignitary, but trailed off mid-sentence.

"I paid a visit to Prince Hans this afternoon," said Elsa steadily, "and explained the situation to him. My men can deliver him to your ship whenever is most convenient."

The French Ambassador ran a hand through his slick-backed hair and considered. "Well, it would be advantageous for uz to leeve by about midday. Our brig iz prepared, ready and waiting for Monsieur 'ans."

Elsa nodded. "Thank you, Ambassador. Your help in this matter is greatly appreciated. I intend to detail Prince Hans' conduct in a letter to his father – if you are amenable, I would send a few of my guard with you to deliver this, and to keep watch over your prisoner."

"Merci, your majesty. I am be 'onoured to be of service."

Elsa nodded. "Thank you, Ambassador."

There was quiet for a moment. The clink of knives and forks.

Kristoff couldn't contain himself.

"What will happen to Hans when he gets home?"

Everyone looked at him in surprise: Kristoff had barely said ten words since he and Anna had walked in.

Kristoff looked back at his plate in embarrassment. He felt Anna shift beside him, her less pressing more fully against his.

This did nothing to help said embarrassment.

"I don't know," sighed Elsa. "I hope he will be suitably disciplined, though it is ultimately up to his father."

"I'm sure something will be done," Anna said lightly. "Hans has twelve older brothers."

" _Twelve?_ "

She nodded. "I don't think they'll let it slide."

There was a little more quiet. Then Anna changed the subject.

\--

After dinner, the dignitaries drifted back to their rooms. Anna lingered for a moment to talk to Elsa.

" _Confidential_ , Kristoff," Anna insisted, manoeuvring him to the other side of the room. "Wait here for a minute."

She skipped back over to Elsa, giant red dress bouncing with her.

"Hi."

Elsa smiled. "Hi yourself."

"About the you-know-what," she said conspiratorially. "I was thinking, I'll get up early tomorrow and get it ready – I want to get a huge bow for it and tell Sven the plan – and get a new lute – and then take Kristoff down as a surprise?"

"Slow down, Anna. A new lute?"

"Yeah. I broke it."

Elsa nodded. "Of course you did. Well, that all sounds fine to me – but there's something I want to add."

"There is?"

Elsa half-glanced to the loitering Kristoff and smiled. "I was looking through some of the old law books this afternoon – after you told me how Kristoff felt out of place. I thought we could do something to make him feel more at home, so I've named Kristoff Official Arendelle Ice Master and Deliver. All the paperwork is done, but I haven't announced it formally – I thought you'd want it to be part of the surprise."

Anna felt quite overwhelmed. "Oh, Elsa!" She threw her arms around the queen, but pulled back after a second. "Ow. Ow. Sunburn. Thank you, Elsa. That's perfect. Thank you." She settled for putting her hands onto her sister's upper arms, beaming.

"Also," Elsa held up a finger to silence any more thanks. "If you happen to feel like walking _our guest_ Kristoff past the docks on your way to show him his new sled, you will be in full view of the entire battalion of guards. They will be lined up along the waterfront waiting to send off Prince Hans."

Anna was confused for a moment, and then put two and two together.

"Elsa. You are a genius." She beamed again and squeezed her sister's arm. "Thank you!"

"And finally," Anna's eyes grew even wider. "I get the feeling Kristoff will try to refuse the sled."

Anna looked dismayed.

"I get the feeling he's that kind of person. Am I right?"

Anna thought this over for a moment, and nodded sadly.

"If that's the case, I refuse to let him return it: it's a gift. Queen's orders."

Anna was beaming again.

"Elsa, you are the best."

With a swift kiss to her forehead, Anna bounced away to collect Kristoff.

Elsa smiled and watched them go.

Anna walked Kristoff back to his room. She had the funny feeling this was becoming a bit of a habit – and she didn't mind a bit.

"So, are you going to tell me what this big secret is?" He asked her, amused.

She shook her head. "Not a chance. If I tell you, it's not a secret anymore!"

Kristoff rolled his eyes. "Will you ever tell me?"

"Possibly." she replied, smug. Looking at him for a moment, her eyes strayed about his face and up to his hair. She gasped.

"What?" Kristoff looked up through his fringe, his mind already racing to conclusions about white streaks and frozen hearts –

"No no, nothing bad – I just remembered – this way!" And she grabbed his hand and raced away down the corridor, holding up the front of her enormous skirt.

"Where are we going?"

"My room!"

Kristoff tried to form a coherent sentence. He failed spectacularly, and just settled for a weak, "…what?"

"You'll see!"

They skidded to halt in front of Anna's door. She gave him a very cheeky grin and disappeared inside.

"Anna, what – ?"

She'd left the door open. Was this an invitation? A test? A sign? _What did it mean?!_

He peered into the dark room.

Suddenly –

"Ta- _daa_!" She appeared out of nowhere, a grin plastering her face, triumphantly holding up his little bobble hat. "I completely forgot to give it back to you!"

Frantically pulling his mind back out of overdrive, Kristoff blinked, cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "I – completely forgot you had it."

"Here," seemingly having noticed nothing – not for the first time, Kristoff found himself sending a silent prayer of thanks that she was so utterly unobservant – Anna gently fitted the hat onto his head. "Consider it returned. Thank you."

They shared a smile for a moment.

Kristoff cleared his throat.

"Well, thank you. For returning it. But we should probably go to bed – I mean – I'll see you – tomorrow?"

"Of course." She cocked an eyebrow at him. "You ok?"

"Sure. So – you're – already at your bed, so – I'll go. Good night, Anna."

"Good night Kristoff."

He hesitated for a second, then plodded awkwardly down the corridor.

"Kristoff?"

He turned around.

"Mm?"

"It's the other way, to the guest rooms."

"Oh. Of course."

He cleared his throat again, turned the other way, and as something in Anna's chest fluttered, she couldn't help beam at the sight of his furious blush.


	13. Preparations

The next morning dawned clear and bright.

True to her word, Anna had a servant rouse her much earlier than usual – half past nine.

She got dressed – gingerly pulling long sleeves over her burnt shoulders – tamed her hair, and hurried to the dining room for a swift breakfast.

Elsa was already there, of course. As Anna entered, the French ambassador beside her got to his feet.

"Good morning, _Princesse_."

"Good morning!" Anna took her seat and hungrily grabbed for some pastries. Elsa poured her a cup of tea.

"Good morning Anna. You're up early."

"Lots to do! Where are the other dignitaries?"

"Most of them have already eaten and are preparing for departure. Émile – I mean, Ambassador Perrault and I – are just discussing ice rinks."

Anna was intrigued.

"Ice rinks?"

"Ambassador Perrault has persuaded me to hold a very controlled demonstration of my powers this afternoon. We weren't too sure what this could be at first, but then I remembered skating with you when we were little."

Anna laughed. "That sounds wonderful! Is everyone invited? And don't you remember how terrible I was at skating?"

"Absolutely, the Gates will be open to all. And don't worry," she smiled. "I'll teach you. Also,"

She held up a flat purple box that was sitting on the table – the sort that jewellery was normally presented in – "on a slight change of subject, I was about to come and find you."

Anna was intrigued.

"What's that?"

Elsa lifted the lid. Inside, nestled onto a velveteen cushion, was a large silver medallion, emblazoned with a single, glittering snowflake. "I thought there should be at least one kind of formality associated with the role of Official Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer. It's for his reindeer."

Anna gasped and seized the medallion, breakfast utterly forgotten. She held it up and it glinted in the light.

"Elsa, this is amazing! And the snowflake looks very… real."

Émile, the French dignitary, chuckled. He glanced at the queen, who replied with a smile: "I had one of the servants run into town this morning to get a plain medallion from the blacksmith's. The snowflake was me."

Anna held the medal close to her chest. "Elsa. This is perfect."

Elsa smiled. She had a lot of things to say – but now was not the time.

"Thank you."

Anna scoffed her breakfast and made a quick curtsey to her sister and the ambassador before dashing off again.

Émile watched her go. "So much… vigour, your sister."

Elsa's mouth twitched into a smile and she poured herself another cup of coffee. "You could say that."

Anna skidded to a halt outside the stables.

Kristoff, of course, was already there. He'd been up for hours. Anna quickly hid the medal behind her back and strolled in, nonchalant.

"Good morning!"

"Good morning. You're up early."

"Lots to do. Can I borrow Sven?"

Kristoff raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Confidential. Royal business."

Sven wagged his tail, but Kristoff remained highly suspicious.

"You better take good care of him."

"I promise."

Very reluctantly, Kristoff patted Sven's side. "Go on then."

Anna flashed him a grin. "Come on, Sven!"

Back in the courtyard, Anna turned to Sven:

"…so, I'm going to get the sled now," she explained, stroking his nose. "And check it's all ok, and get a lute, and _this_ ," – she triumphantly held up the medal – "is for you. The Official Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer's noble steed."

Thankfully, the medallion's ribbon was fastened with a shiny clasp – it would have been an impossible challenge to negotiate it over Sven's antlers otherwise – and Anna wondered if she would ever stop marvelling at her sister's meticulous attention to detail.

Sven clearly felt very, very special. He puffed out his chest, and strutted about the courtyard, head held high. Anna nodded very seriously.

"Perfect. You are the handsomest reindeer I've ever seen."

Sven wagged his tail happily.

Anna gestured to him and they started to head to town – when she realised she had no idea where they were going.

Telling Sven to hold on a minute, she went to seek the font of all knowledge: Gerda.

"Gerda?"

The stout little woman turned. "Good morning, my lady. You're up early."

"Lots to do! I need to go pick up a sled for Kristoff. And get a lute. Do you know the way to _Pleasurable Sledding_? I'm going to get totally lost on my own."

"Of course, my lady. When would like to go?"

"As soon as possible, really."

Gerda put her current task on hold and led Anna and Sven across the courtyard and along the Great Road that bridged the fjord, connecting castle and kingdom mainland.

The town was bustling. It was market day.

Anna's eyes were saucers: she wished she could look in every direction at once and was on the verge of running to every stall in sight – but no. They had a job to do.

Sven sniffed the air. He could smell carrot cake.

Gerda led her to a stall laden with ribbons and bows and broad sheets of paper in every conceivable colour. Anna umm-ed and ahh-ed and Sven sniffed about curiously – but they eventually chose a long blue sash, two red bows and a length of matching ribbon.

Next, was the stall of a tiny, wizened man whom Gerda had on good authority made the finest lutes for miles. Anna, who had always been incredibly enthusiastic but never very good at music took her word for it and bought the instrument she thought looked most similar to the one she'd fended off wolves with. Sven snorted his approval.

"And it's only quarter past ten, Gerda! We are so efficient! Do you think we have time to look at the cake stall?"

After being sidetracked by the cake stall and a chance meeting with Olaf – who, it transpired, having acquainted himself with all the castle staff, had decided to come and meet as many of the townsfolk as he possibly could – they finally made it to the merchant's workshop.

Anna's eye grew wide again and she spoke through a mouthful of Norwegian layer cake. "Ohhh, look at it, Gerda!"

The sled was perfect.

Anna crammed the rest of her cake into her mouth and ran over, examining every inch of the new sled. When, finally, she deemed it satisfactory, she asked four of the stronger looking craftsmen to bring it down the street, closer to the waterfront. Once there, she fussed about placing the lute and the bows and the ribbon and finally stood back to admire her handiwork.

"What do you think Sven?"

Sven brayed happily.

"Me too." She gave him a pat on the back. "Do you think you're up to guard duty whilst I go get Kristoff?"

Sven puffed out his chest importantly and stood proudly before the sled, medallion flashing in the sunlight.

 

\--

 

Anna found Kristoff by the stables – of course. He was sat on the cobbles, leaning back against the outside wall, facing the wide courtyard. The sun lit his hair, and he was focused so intently on something between his hands that he didn't hear Anna approaching.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

He jumped and looked up. He hauled himself to his feet.

"Hey. Whittling. Where's Sven?"

"He's standing guard until we get there."

Kristoff frowned. "Get where?"

She grinned. "Confidential."

Kristoff sighed and shook his head. He was about to reply when he noticed Anna looking curiously at the hand still curled around his whittling tools.

"Whittling?"

"Oh. Yeah." He held up and opened his palm. "Whittling."

In his hand was a small knife, and a nearly-finished wooden model that looked very like –

"Is that a tiny reindeer?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "Do you like it?"

"I love it!" Anna very gently picked up the tiny thing and examined it in fascination. It was kind of crude – broadly cut planes, uncomplicated three-pronged antlers, large triangular ears, a big nose – but there was something unbelievably charming about it, and Anna was enthralled.

"You can have it. If you want." He rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not quite finished yet. And it's kind of simple, so you don't have to, obviously, but –"

"I would love to." She was delighted. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Let me finish it first, though."

Anna obligingly handed it back. Kristoff plodded into the stable to stow away the knife and carving. When he returned: "So, where are we going?"

She flashed a mischievous grin. "You'll see."


	14. We May

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Penultimate chapter! Thank you everyone for all your feedback, support and for keeping up with this story.
> 
> There's a fair amount of verbatim in this chapter - I've tried to write originally in and around this to make sure I'm adding something new to these moments from the film.
> 
> I'm toying with the idea of writing a follow-up at some point, maybe going through to Frozen Fever (which I finally got round to seeing the other day and was adorable). I've enjoyed writing this so much - I've loved exploring all the awkward little moments, and it'd be fun to take that further. Watch this space.
> 
> See you tomorrow for the final chapter! X

  


The French ambassador kissed Elsa's hand in farewell.

"Your majesty. If I may, I will write to let you know of ze reception Prince 'ans is given in the Souzzern Isles. And I urge you to be no stranger to France."

Elsa inclined her head elegantly. "Indeed, I shall endeavour not to be. Arendelle hopes to see you soon, my lord."

She gave command to the guards to fetch Prince Hans, and handed a letter to the most senior among them.

"This letter is to be handed to the King of the Southern Isles personally. It is for his eyes only. Do you understand?"

"Yes, your majesty." The guard bowed low and saluted.

"Very well. I thank you." She turned back to the ambassador. "Farewell, Ambassador Perrault."

" _Au revoir, Votre Majesté_."

She watched with a slight smile as the men crossed the courtyard and left for the dock.

Kai was bustling about, flitting from ship to ship, ensuring all cargo was cleared to leave and every man was accounted for. Elsa had stressed to him earlier that morning how important it was that every dignitary left with their copy of the new commercial and diplomatic treaties that had been drawn up the previous day.

As he made his way over to the French ship, Kai saw, at a distance, Princess Anna practically flouncing past the guards lining the waterfront, hanging on the arm of her Ice Harvester guest.

Kai gave a small smile before boarding the French vessel.

He was just in the process of confirming it had all appropriate documents when he saw the French ambassador approaching. He bowed.

"My lord. All seems to be in order with your ship."

"Ah, merci. Are we cleared to sail?"

"As soon as your lordship is ready."

Kai and the ambassador stepped aside to allow the guards and Hans onboard. They followed them up the gangplank, and watched with satisfaction as the Prince of the Southern Isles was thrown unceremoniously into the brig.

Both men nodded grimly, and the ambassador accompanied Kai back towards the gangplank.

"I will return zis scoundrel to 'is country. We shall see what 'is twelve big bruzzers theenk of 'is behaviour."

"Arendelle thanks you, my lord."

Suddenly, the voice of the one dignitary Kai still had left to see interrupted them.

"This is unacceptable!"

Kai turned.

Sure enough, the Duke of Weselton was being gently but firmly led to his ship by a small group of guards.

He clearly had not taken the queen's refusal to give him an audience over the past day well.

"I am a victim of fear! I have been traumatised!" – the guards did not break stride – "Ahhh! My neck hurts! Is there a doctor, I could see…? No…?"

The guards looked at him in silent disbelief.

He made a miraculous recovery and brandished an indignant finger. "I _demand_ to see the _queen_!"

Kai had seen enough. He stepped forward, unfurling his last signed contract with great satisfaction.

"Oh, I have a message from the queen." Alarmed, the Duke stuck his abnormally long chicken neck around the side of the scroll and scanned it, as if checking its authenticity. Kai glared down at him. "Arendelle will henceforth and forever no longer do business of any sort – " with thinly veiled distaste he shrugged the Duke off his arm – "with _Weasel Town_."

" _Weselton_! It's _Weselton_!"

And the two guards hauled the apoplectic little man up onto his ship.

Kai nodded. Justice was sweet.

 

\--

 

Having taken an enormous detour via the docks, Anna and Kristoff doubled back through the courtyard to the end of the Great Road.

She produced the blue sash she had bought that morning.

"You know I don't trust your judgement. And your sense of direction is terrible."

"Come on! It's like a trust exercise!"

Kristoff sighed. She was practically bouncing with excitement, and he really couldn't say no to her infectious grin and enormous blue eyes.

"Fine. Blindfold me."

"Yaaaaaay!"

She bounced behind him and, on tiptoes, gently tied the sash over his eyes.

"Ok. Can you see?"

"I can't see."

"Ok!" He felt her warm little hand slip into his. "Don't worry, I got you. This way!"

She set off down the Great Road, bouncing and skipping, Kristoff in tow. He tried desperately not to stumble, but couldn't stop himself grinning. She was really, really sweet sometimes.

"Come on, come on, come on!"

"Woah, ok, hang on – "

He felt her other hand join in tugging him along, and the brush of other people they narrowly avoided.

"Ok, here I come –"

_WHAM._

" _Oww._ Pole."

"Whoops. Sorry!"

Before he had even a second to think anything other than _typical_ , she'd grabbed his arm again and they were off once more.

"Ok, ok. Here we are. Oh – "

The world became bright again as they came to a halt and she slipped the blindfold off.

He blinked a few times to let his eyes adjust. He could hear Anna's excited squeak beside him.

Before them stood the kind of sled he'd only ever seen from afar, with envy.

"I owe you a sled."

Sven strutted forward and proudly posed before it.

"Are you _serious_?"

"Yes! And it's the latest model."

"No, I can't accept this…"

It was too much, again, she was too nice, and too generous – he was so totally and utterly overwhelmed –

"You have to. No returns. No exchanges. Queen's orders."

Kristoff was speechless. He opened and closed his mouth a few times.

"She's named you the Official Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer."

For the first time, Kristoff noticed the large, shiny medallion around Sven's neck. The snowflake that decorated it looked suspiciously magical.

"What? That's not a thing."

"Oh, sure it is. _And_ , it even has a cup holder." She paused, and looked up at him, holding her hands together. "…do you like it?"

Well _that_ was a stupid question.

" _Like_ it? I _love_ it!" And he placed a hand either side of her waist and picked her up, spinning them round, and she squealed in delight and surprise and for the first time in – well, forever – he laughed a deep, genuine, joyful laugh. "I could _kiss_ you!"

A moment. Both their faces dropped as they realised what he'd said.

He put her down very quickly, hand automatically shooting up to rub the back of his head. He looked at her, so honest and ridiculous and sweet – and he couldn't think of a single way that could have gone worse.

She felt a huge, an inexpressible warmth spreading through her chest. She looked at him, so awkward and embarrassed and uncertain – and she couldn't think of a single thing that could be more romantic than this.

"I could. I mean, I'd like to. I – may I? We me? I mean – may we? Wait, what?"

He looked away, totally confused by his own idiocy and ready to _die_ , right there and then –

Anna had already said _yes_ at least fifty times in her head, but watching him stumble and fumble over his words, she thought she might burst if she didn't do something –

Kristoff felt a soft, warm touch on his cheek where she kissed him.

His eyes went very wide.

"We may."

_It's now or never._

He took her in his arms and kissed her.

She reciprocated. Enthusiastically.

Sven shook his head and closed his eyes in embarrassment.

When they finally broke apart after what might have been minutes – or hours, or several summer days – they were grinning like idiots.

"I, err – I meant to do that on the fjord."

Anna just grinned and pulled him in for another kiss.


	15. A Movie-Script Ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter. Thank you to everyone for your support with this story - it's been my first foray back into fanfiction after about six (?!) years, and every bit of feedback and support you've given has been invaluable.
> 
> I think I might work on an unofficial follow-up to this story at some point (going up to Frozen Fever?), but until then, I hope you enojy the sign-off.
> 
> Update 04/05: I've just started posting said follow-up, I Prefer Coffee. One day I will learn how to hyperlink, but until then, you can find it on my profile.
> 
> BFM x

 

Eventually, Sven broke them up with an impatient huff.

The stood awkwardly for a second, arms still about each other.

Anna smiled. "Perhaps you should look at your new sled."

Reluctantly, Kristoff dropped his arms.

Sven glared at him, and he grinned sheepishly back.

"Sorry, buddy. You, err – you know how it is."

They walked over to the sled and the reindeer shook his head in embarrassment.

Anna laughed and hopped up onto the sled's seat. "Does he not approve?"

"Oh no. He approves. He just embarrasses easily."

"Well, that makes two of you."

Kristoff walked around the sled, examining every inch with approval. From her perch, Anna watched, incredibly pleased with herself.

"There's so much room for my ice," he marvelled. "And there's a tailgate! And – " he crouched down to examine the base. "These are reinforced runners. And what's this?" He pulled a lever and jumped back in alarm as six sturdy wheels descended.

"Cobble busters," said Anna, smugly. "A simple mechanism, which allows the user to engage a wheel assembly for ease of travel on an unfrozen surface. Apparently."

Kristoff was very impressed. "Anna, this is amazing."

She exuded pride. "I try."

"I'll have to take it out, see how it performs," he sighed happily and ran a hand along the side. "It'll corner like it's on rails."

"Where do you want to keep it?"

Kristoff looked up, uncertain. "What do you mean?"

"I have no idea where sleds live. Is it like a carriage? Do they live in carriage houses?"

"Um. They sort of live outside wherever me and Sven are staying. Like I said," he hesitated briefly before walking back round to her. She swung herself round to face him, legs dangling over the edge of the seat. "We sort of stay wherever, whenever."

"You could… stay here, if you like? Well, not _here_ , but in the castle, I mean. If you'd like to." She fiddled with her plaits. "Obviously there's your ice business and you'll want to keep that going – ice is your life, and everything – and now you're the Official Ice Master and Deliverer, you'll get accommodation at the Ice Harvester's Guild I guess – I remember reading about their guildhall, and I know it's in the town, but I'm not sure _where_ – and then there's your family, but I'm not sure how much you stay with them? But if you wanted somewhere, you know, with feather beds to come back to, our Gates are open now…" she trailed off. "Like an extended guest? Or an open house policy. Or," she reconsidered. "An open _door_ policy."

Kristoff was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed again. He tried to focus on the girl before him. Who he'd just kissed. For a fair amount of time. _Focus_.

"Ice keeps me away for weeks at a time. The Ice Harvester's Guild is on the outskirts of the town. I don't know if they're big on accommodation, though – we'll have to talk to Elsa, see what she's said to them. But…" he cleared his throat, "It would be nice to see you. Whenever you can make time, I mean – if you'd like to. When I'm not ice harvesting. And you're not busy. And – I do like feather beds," he finished, rather lamely. "Should you not ask Elsa about… extended guests, though?"

Anna looked a bit embarrassed. "We sort of… already talked about it. Hypothetically."

Kristoff smirked a little at this.

"Shhh." She gave him a gentle shove backwards and hopped down from the sled. "So… carriage house?"

He shrugged. "I suppose. That makes sense."

"Great. I'll have some people bring it up for you. Oh – Sven?"

The reindeer perked up.

"Thank you for all your help this morning. Do you think you could do one more thing for me?"

She stroked his nose and he huffed amenably.

"Could you find Olaf for me? He was wandering around the market earlier. Elsa's making an ice rink," she grinned. "And I know he'll want to be there for that."

Sven nodded and trotted off, chest still puffed out so nobody could miss his shiny new medallion.

Anna pressed a few coins into the hands of some of _Pleasurable Sledding's_ workers and asked them to move Kristoff's sled up to the castle carriage houses. They tipped their hats and hurried off to oblige, and Anna and Kristoff wandered back in the direction of the castle.

There was a strange, slightly awkward and exciting new tension between them.

"So, 'Official Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer'. What does that mean?"

"Oh, you know," Anna waved a hand about. "Ice stuff."

Kristoff was amused. "Very technical."

"Elsa will have the details. I am but the humble messenger."

"Right."

In the slight quiet that followed, Anna reached for his hand.

 

\--

 

Elsa felt thrilled – nervous, but thrilled. The servants had spread word that morning that Queen Elsa would be demonstrating her magic in the courtyard that afternoon, and that the gates were open to anyone who wished to see.

She'd been terrified that nobody but Anna would show up, but she'd put on her blue ice-gown – for strength, and to remind herself how beautiful and controlled this power of hers could be.

But Elsa was surrounded by townsfolk – by her people. Curiosity had clearly got the better of them, and men, women and children stood waiting in anticipation to see what their snow queen would do.

"Are you ready?"

The cheers that greeted her words – and the sight of Anna bouncing up and down, cheering hardest of all – warmed her heart.

Elsa stamped a foot in the centre of the courtyard.

Ice spread from under her sole, flowing across the cobblestones and dancing up the walls in gorgeous delicate patterns. She raised her arms and froze the fountains on either side so they arched above them in fantastic shapes. With a twist of her hands, she sent a spark up into the sky: it softly glowed for a moment, and then snow fell from the clear summer sky.

Finally, with an almost lazy flick of her wrist, the shoes of the assembled became ice skates.

There were cries of joy.

In the enclosure of the courtyard this was a strange sound; a new sound.

Elsa marvelled at it.

Anna made her way over to her sister, slipping and sliding like a newborn deer on the ice.

"Oh – ahh – oops – "

She threw her weight onto Elsa's arms to steady herself, grinning.

"I like the open gates."

Elsa smiled back. "We are never closing them again."

With a flash of magic, Anna boots too became skates.

"Oh Elsa, they're beautiful, but you know I don't skate – "

But Elsa had grabbed her hands, pulling her forward, skating on the ice, teasing, encouraging.

"Come _on_ , you can do it –"

Sven went sliding past, Kristoff behind him, calling out to them before losing his balance and falling onto Sven.

"Ahh, reindeer coming through –"

And Anna clung to her sister's hands, slipping and sliding and laughing.

"I got it, I got it, I don't got it, I don't got it – "

And Olaf was there, helping Anna regain her balance and holding the end of Elsa's cape to be dragged along.

"And _glide_ and _spin_ , and _glide_ and _spin_ – "

And there was laughter, and there was joy, and though the effects of the past few days were far from over, there was hope in the air.

For only the second time in her life, Elsa felt completely free.


End file.
